Satwik SaiRaj RankiReddy/ Chirag Shetty

Discussion in 'India Professional Players' started by Baddie lover, Oct 28, 2019.

  1. Baddie lover

    Baddie lover Regular Member

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  2. Baddie lover

    Baddie lover Regular Member

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    Sumanth99 likes this.
  3. Baddie lover

    Baddie lover Regular Member

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    This is an old article from month of June. Was a good interview by Chirag.


    Link: https://thebridge.in/badminton/nothing-else-plays-mind-other-than-the-goal-of-winning-chirag-shetty/

    This article was originally published by cynergyservices.org

    Being in Mumbai, one of the most sensitive zones in India, how is your fitness & practice schedule like these days?


    Yeah, in Mumbai, we can’t practice outside as cases are on the rise. Past 2 months, we are training over web conference calls. 2 sessions a day, morning is yoga types and evening is more focused on strength & agility. With little relaxation in lockdown, I have started running for around 40-45 mins each day. That helps me with my fitness and agility.


    Take us through your origins & how did this passion start in you.

    Our native is Mangalore. But I am born & brought up in Mumbai. My father is a hotelier here & my mother is a housemaker. My younger sister plays badminton as well.

    As far as my badminton is concerned, no one in the family had played this sport in past. My father used to play squash, but more as a hobby. But yeah, badminton was never in the family roots. I remember going to Goregaon sports club & playing alongside my father those days. My first coach [Mr. Manish Hadkar] then, noticed me playing with my father and offered me to join the practice at the club. I was just 7 then. Later I joined at Andheri Sports Complex for a couple of years, as Mr. Manish joined Mr. Uday Pawar sir. We shifted again to Goregaon sports club & I have been training here whenever in Mumbai.

    After I completed my board exams, I was in double minds whether to pick up science or commerce in studies. Either I could take science and pursue my studies Or, pick up commerce and continue playing the sport. Due to my increased interest & passion in Badminton, I gave up science and picked commerce. I was around 16 then, and that’s when I started taking badminton seriously on a professional note. 2 years back, I completed all my studies.


    Ever tried any other sport, other than badminton


    Initially I wanted to play cricket, just like every other Indian. Had even enrolled for a camp at the Goregaon sports club but life had some other plans. My father actually always wanted me to play an individual sport and hence badminton.


    Ever thought of playing Singles


    I decided to completely pursue doubles when I was 17/18 years. I had personal inclination towards doubles & was better off playing doubles than singles. I would lose in Singles but win against the same player in Doubles. Singles needs fitness of highest level due to the agility needed and bigger space, while in Doubles we are more dependent on speed & power due to the lack of space. If I have to put that in athletic terms, Doubles is like 800m dash & singles is like 10kms run.


    You were Ranked 7 once in 2019


    Yes, around November 2019, we were ranked 7 worldwide. In the current scenario, I am already training very hard, but I think I need to train more wisely. Putting in more effort in some areas where I am lagging behind, like defense, will help me break into top 5 easily. I had initially planned to break into top 5 by end of this year, but it seems will stretch into 2021 due to Covid19. Attack wise, I am good and probably one of the best in the business. Defense is something I need work on in comparison to the top athletes globally.


    Does the pressure of renewed expectations play on your minds, post CWG win..


    There is definitely a pressure of expectations we carry on the courts. More so, after the CWG win. Everyone around us expect us to win the series and bring medals.

    Having said that, the moment we enter the court, pressure just fades away. Most of the important matches I have played, I completely forgotten where I am right now and that’s how I have played my best.

    For instance, in the finals of Thailand Open Super Series, we were leading initially and could have finished it in 2 games as we had a comfortable 3-point lead. In the third game, our start wasn’t that great (down by 3-4 points) but we came back hard to win the 3rd game. When we are playing against the reigning world champions (Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu), we have to the play the best game of our lives to win such moments. Nothing else plays on the mind, other than the goal of winning.


    Coach reaction on the Thailand Series win, is still fresh on minds.


    Laughs…!

    Yes. If you see the video, the coach directly comes on the court & hugs us. We were so ecstatic that we were lying on the floors with extreme joy. Every single person, relatives, family and friends were all delighted.


    Injuries followed you, but it helped you in a certain way during the Thailand Super Series

    Yes, three back to back tournaments – Indonesia Open, Japan Open followed by Thailand Open lead to the injury. In the Japan Open, after the pre-quarterfinals match, I realized a pull in my abs. Next day, during Quarter Finals, midway in the match, the pain aggravated. I couldn’t really smash during the match. I rested for a couple of days thinking things will get better. However, in the first round of Thailand Open, abs got pulled again. In the 2nd round against Indonesians, I wasn’t able to smash and so was Satwik (carrying the shoulder injury). Both of us were not able to smash, which used to be our strength.

    In a way, it worked for us as opponents kept thinking that we will go for power smash, so they were going deep into defense. But with half smashes, we gained lot of points and won the games.

    In that process, I was pulling my abs a lot. After the semifinals, I couldn’t walk normally without bending. I was on painkillers playing into the semis and finals. Only after landing in India, realized it was an abs tear. That’s the reason, why we had to pull of world championships tournament last year.


    You have had encounters with the Indonesian Duo – Marcus Fernaldi Gideon & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in last 2-3 years.

    Yep.!

    We played them twice, in back to back weeks. Once in semi-finals at the China Open & then again in the finals at the French open. We have played them almost 12-13 times in last 3 years. Perhaps the only opponent, we have played most against in the last 3 years. They are world#1 now & we haven’t been able to win against them in those 12-13 encounters. We have come extremely close at times, but just not been able to cross the line.

    I prefer players who are more on the defense, like Hiroyuki Endo & Yuta Watanabe(Doubles Winner of All England Championship 2020). Whenever we play then, we feel much comfortable as they lift the shuttle quite a lot and not so quick while attacking.

    As for Marcus Fernaldi Gideon & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, they generally prefer hard flat drives, as they are short & very quick with their hands. At crucial stages, they somehow win those rallies with their experience.


    What’s the badminton racket speed like, during those flat drives

    These days we don’t get to see the speed of hitting, but at PBL we got to witness the speed. I had hit the speed of 420/hr. this year.

    Tell us about your PBL Experience, and your fan moment there.

    I am a part of Pune7Aces from last two years. I have known the owners personally from last 4-5 years. Great to have Taapsee as our owner, as it helps in getting the necessary visibility. We had a great outing this year, reaching upto the semifinals. Our leader is Denmark based player; Mathais Boe & as a team we now look to grab the trophy next week.

    This year, I got an opportunity to play men’s doubles with my idol – The Indonesian great, Hendra Setiawan. He is an Olympic champion, the smartest guy on the court and who has won almost everything badminton has to offer.

    So, Yeah, lots of great experiences at PBL. Every year I have played, I have got an opportunity to play with athletes with incredible career records. I have learnt a lot from them, and it has helped me improve my game at the international level.

    Each year, after PBL, my graph & rankings has gone higher, which is a big testimony of how important such leagues are for the athletes.


    Coaching at the Academy

    Flandy Limpele left just before the lockdown. Right now, we don’t really have a dedicated head coach like Flandy Limpele in Doubles. The management is looking for one and hopefully once the situation improves, we will get someone good from outside.

    For the singles yes.! India has produced some great singles athletes like Pullela Gopichand, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Syed Modi, Prakash Padukone etc., but the best of performances hasn’t yet come from Doubles yet. We are improving in each game, but yeah, we don’t have a great history to fall back on. Badminton in India had always been singles centric, but things are slowly shaping now in the Doubles circuit & we are getting the due attention while coaching. For now, we need some outside experts to come in and help us in that regard.


    Tell us about your Sponsors

    Right now, I am employed with Indian Oil Corporation and also sponsored by Yonex. And I am supported by Gosports Foundation which is supporting India’s top emerging athletes. Grateful for all the support by the sponsors. Since 2017, I have not spent anything and have focused on improving my sport & winning medals for the country. Above all, I am also supported by The Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. It is a flagship program of GOI and an attempt to provide assistance to India’s top athletes.
     
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  4. Baddyforall

    Baddyforall Regular Member

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  5. Baddie lover

    Baddie lover Regular Member

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    Didn't watch the match. How did they play today ?
     
  6. samkool

    samkool Regular Member

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    like gold medal favorites.
     
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  7. Sumanth99

    Sumanth99 Regular Member

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    I only watched last 11 points of game 3, looked like their defence improved
     
  8. Sumanth99

    Sumanth99 Regular Member

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    They tried hard to hit too precisely close to net and made lot of errors into net, unforced errors.
     
  9. samkool

    samkool Regular Member

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    ahsantiawan played perfectly. they allowed very very few opportunities for rankishetty to unleash their power. what else is there to say about the zen masters of md?

    rankishetty were just a hair too tense at times. too bad they didn't have their coach courtside to calm them down. that's worth a couple of points. good news is they keep getting closer.

    still on track for a medal @ tokyo 2020+1, if it's not canceled.
     
  10. Sumanth99

    Sumanth99 Regular Member

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    Very predictable and straight play
     
  11. Sumanth99

    Sumanth99 Regular Member

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    Wow what a performance, well done, awesome play by Chirag no errors at all. Also well done Satwik in not interrupting Chirag's shots.
    !!!!!!!!!!!!

    Self destructive loss against mediocre pair.
     
  12. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Focus on 'fitness and training' is the mantra in Olympic year: Chirag Shetty
    Focus on 'fitness and training' is the mantra in Olympic year: Chirag Shetty (yahoo.com)

    [​IMG]
    ANI

    Tue, 16 March, 2021, 6:52 pm·5-min read

    [​IMG]
    Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (file image)

    By Ankit Bisht

    New Delhi [India], March 16 (ANI): As the much-awaited Tokyo Olympics is around the corner, the athletes are giving it their all to bring out the best version of themselves at the showpiece event.

    In an interaction with ANI, Indian shuttler Chirag Shetty, who plays with his partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in the doubles event, shared his thoughts on various topics ranging from Olympics preparation, coaching style of new Olympic medalist coach Mathias Boe and the upcoming All England Open which will commence from Wednesday.

    The 23-year-old Chirag is focused on making the most from the year as there will be a lot on the plate being an Olympic year. The prime attention will be given to fitness and training as the year hosts a number of tournaments including the Olympic qualification events and the Olympics itself.

    "Since it is an Olympic year there will be a lot of tournaments and training so we need to take extra care of our fitness. Last week, when we had a week off between the Swiss Open and All England Open we had a good training weekend in Zurich with our coach Mathias and it has been good so far. We have been working a lot on our fitness," he said.

    Chirag and Satwiksairaj are currently gearing up for the All England Open after that they will spend a month-and-a-half in training to "fine-tune" their skills before coming on the court to play three back-to-back tournaments for the Olympic qualification -- India Open, Malaysia Open, and the Singapore Open. After that, the Indian top-ranked doubles pair will prove their mettle in the quadrennial event in Tokyo.

    Earlier this year, the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) roped in Mathias Boe of Denmark to train them in the run-up to the Olympics. Sharing his thoughts on the coaching style of Olympic silver medalist Boe, Chirag expressed it is "quite different" to be coached by him.

    "There is a lot more thought process in our mind when we play a certain stroke and we are trying to do new things that we can create as many attacking opportunities as possible. We are also working a lot on our defence. Overall, it has been really good and it is quite different from the style of coaching of our former coaches," he said.

    "Every year we try to set-up our targets, for example since we started playing together we always set targets of reaching the certain rank and playing certain level of tournaments like winning Super Series tournaments and consistently playing quarterfinals and semifinals in the Super Series events. Also, we aim at entering the top five or top 10 in the world rankings and so far it has worked really well for us," he added.

    Chirag feels that the Olympic village will become safer when all the athletes will be vaccinated before the games and added that he will miss the home crowd at the Tokyo Olympics as the organisers have barred international spectators from the event due to the coronavirus.

    "It will be difficult to play without the home crowd but that is the case if we want to continue with the Olympics we need to abide by the guidelines. But it would be better if our home crowd would have been there," he said.

    "Like our Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said the vaccines will be given to the sportspersons in the coming weeks or months' time. I think it will definitely benefit especially the Olympic athletes because it will provide a safer environment for all the athletes. At least we have that security that all the athletes are vaccinated and they can't spread Covid-19. If all people at the village are vaccinated it will be really good for the Games," the World No. 10 ranked doubles player said.

    He also admitted that the country's attitude towards sportspersons other than cricketers has changed and people are recognising and accepting players from other sports as well.

    "There is a change in the attitude and mindset of people regarding sports in recent years. Earlier, if you were a cricketer then only people would have seen it as a career but right now people are recognising players from lesser popular sports like athletics, badminton, tennis, and table tennis. People do think that you can now take any sports as a career.

    "Personally, I feel that we need to start the move from sports-loving country to Olympic medalist sportspersons country. The first step is to love sports and need to make sports a culture similar to what the USA is doing. They celebrate Super Bowl more like a festival than just a game. I think something of that sort should be done in India as it will bring a transition and we will become a sporting powerhouse and will get a lot of medals in the Olympics," he said.

    Chirag further added that badminton infrastructure is "really good" in the country and one will see many young players coming into the game in the future.

    "At the moment the badminton infrastructure is really good in India. There are a lot of courts and many more are under construction. When I started playing badminton there were not many courts but now especially in smaller cities (tier 2, tier 3 cities) there are a lot of courts and I think that will definitely help in creating better opportunities for players at the grassroots level," he concluded.

    The Indian pair will take on France's Eloi Adam and Julien Maio in the first round of the All England Open. (ANI)
     
  13. Sumanth99

    Sumanth99 Regular Member

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    Chirag Shetty is a
    talker,
    nerve puker,
    irritator,
    interrupter.

    I can't see this pair winning any big titles, this is getting worse day by day.
     
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  14. arjevo

    arjevo Regular Member

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    Boe will certainly help him develop those aspects of his game ;)
     
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  15. extremenanopowe

    extremenanopowe Regular Member

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    Its a shame Limpele resigned. Else, they will be brighter.

    Malaysia got the gems now. ;)
     
  16. extremenanopowe

    extremenanopowe Regular Member

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    Maybe limpele will go thailand or japan after malaysia.
     
  17. Baddyforall

    Baddyforall Regular Member

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    https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/to...erience-says-chirag-shetty-1839376-2021-08-11

    Excerpts:

    "It was kind of a good and sad experience for us as we had to go out early," said Chirag, during a virtual press conference.

    "I thought we would go to quarterfinals after the win on the first day but unfortunately three pairs, including us, won two matches each and it was decided by games won, so it was unfortunate, but overall it was a good experience."

    "We knew from the beginning that our group was tough with world No. 3 and 1 and and Great Britain there. But to go out despite winning two matches did hurt us. People whom we beat, to see them win gold was difficult," Chirag said.

    "There are a lot of positives to take from the Olympics, we played well game-wise and there are a lot of tournaments coming up like the Sudirman Cup, Thomas Cup and World Championship in December.

    "So we will look to do well in these events and hopefully we can come back with a medal."
     
  18. InfiniteCharme

    InfiniteCharme New Member

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    Is Boe still working with them? Didn't see him at the Thomas Cup matches
     
  19. Sumanth99

    Sumanth99 Regular Member

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    Nope, he is no more Indian coach.
     
  20. InfiniteCharme

    InfiniteCharme New Member

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    Oh that's a shame - how come?
     

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