India Open was always on our bucket list, says Chirag Shetty
Jan 18, 2022
New Delhi [India], January 18 : Chirag Shetty who alongside Satwiksairaj Rankireddy clinched the India Open men's doubles title on Sunday said that winning the big-ticket tournament in India was always on their bucket list.
Satwik and Chirag got the better of top seeds Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan 21-16, 24-22 to add the India Open title, which is part of the BWF World Tour tournament series, to their Thailand Open crown in 2019.
"Well yeah, we always wanted to win India Open because we hadn't won a big-ticket event in India so it was always on our bucket list. We couldn't have started the year on a better note," Chirag Shetty told ANI.
In the final, Satwik and Chirag displayed nerves of steel and even put their more illustrious opponents under pressure with their tactics to clinch the men's doubles title.
Aware of their opponent's prowess to play quick points, Chirag and Satwik had a clear game plan of playing longer rallies. That meant they were prepared to play softer net strokes and even lift the shuttle high to force the Indonesians into making mistakes.
"Going into match we knew if we wanted to win then we have to stick to the game plan that is to like not to force ourselves into giving easy points," Chirag added.
Talking about their consistency over the years, the 24-year-old said: "It's our collective effort. It's the coaches, support staff, physios, trainers, nutritionist, and everybody. We both have a good understanding both on and off the court and that is one of our mantra to consistency."
Talking about on-court chemistry, shuttler said: "Instinctively we both are offensive players, we really like attacking. So that is one of the reasons we have a good combination on court."
In the men's singles final, Lakshya Sen defeated world champion Loh Kean Yew 24-22, 21-17 in 54 minutes to win his first Super 500 title. Talking about the youngster, Chirag said: "Lakshya Sen was phenomenal and held his nerves. The way he controlled the game was simply outstanding."
India Open was held this year without any crowd at KD Jadhav Stadium in New Delhi. Talking about that Chirag said: "Living in a bio bubble is tough. Having said that we also didn't have crowd support so we didn't have home advantage."
Indian duo wrapped up their match in 43 minutes, having saved five game points to begin the new season with a title triumph.
