Compulsively winning is one of the most entertaining aspects of sports. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s Boe-ball style of badminton places a high value on winning every point, treating each shot like a dart aimed at the bullseye.
Their bravado and shyness, derring-do and defense, no-holds-barred smash and tightly concealed deception are all geared toward this insatiable desire to win.
Three finals may be lost in a row in the process. And one day, an Olympic gold medal may be won at a canter. But right now, Satwik-Chirag, led by coach Mathias Boe, has won once more.
The French Open was won without dropping a set, and Taiwanese Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan were defeated 21-11, 21-17.
“It feels good. But next week there’s another tournament,” Chirag Shetty would casually tell the BWF after winning their second French title, a Super 750 at the Olympic venue.
Birmingham, the upcoming tournament, tends to make Indians nervous and sentimental because it is the All England.
However, for Satwik-Chirag, it could be as simple as zooming and zoning in on the next tournament to win. Or at least Boe-ball would persuade them to think that way.
Satwik-Chirag has taken on a new persona in Paris this week. They won Korea last season on fast courts, using all-out aggressive attack – the standard zipping down smashes.
In Paris, the weather varied from day to day. However, the Indians simply attacked in different ways, even if the shuttle wasn’t raining down on the Taiwanese from above.
First, there were attacking opportunities, which Boe refers to as ‘the service situation’. Satwik-Chirag have a dozen different variations of the serve in their repertoire, despite the fact that it was traditionally a defensive shot in badminton.
Chirag barely swivels, but he and Satwik caught Yang-Lee off guard so many times on the return that the Taiwanese were forced to try unusual things when serving and commit numerous service errors in order to keep up.
Boe insists on aggressive first three shots in an exchange, and the Indians maintained the pressure even as they cruised to a 14-6 lead in the opener. Yang-Lee landed hard, and Satwik later joked that he wondered how opponents felt “when facing Chirag-Satwik.”
But the Indian defense remained strong. Chirag has even perfected a high, heavy lift from a deeply defensive position, which bought Indians time and points by putting the opponents out of position, along with some cute harakiri along the backline.
Satwik-Chirag’s best-attacking shots
Perhaps the sharpest attacks of the day came from Satwik, Chirag, and Yang’s slantways low altitude smashes. Yang for the most part, and Lee once in the second when the Taiwanese led 9-8, pulled the mid-length shuttles from the sides and directed them at angles, crashing into opponents.
Mostly, the target was bringing it across Satwik’s body, testing his awkward angle defense. They also succeeded.
But it was mostly the two Indians with crisscross attacks and sharp flatter smashes at high speeds who helped the Indians score a lot of points, including 21-11.
Chirag’s fluid maneuvering from beneath the tape, as well as his lightning-fast reflexes, astounded Yang-Lee. Satwik, meanwhile, served deftly, played solid low defense, and was lightning quick at the net.
There was a classic S-C 1-2, with Satwik smashing right down the middle and Chirag whistling a word in, leaping right behind him at 8-7.
To add to the excitement, the chair umpire declared one return a double hit, which enraged Boe and uncoiled Chirag, after which the slantways attacks continued to prick like a pierced voodoo doll.
From 11-10 to 14-14, amidst the ‘double hit’ incident, both Lee and Yang made multiple service errors – into the net and with the flick serve ballooning long. At 15-14, the Indian attack decided to become ruthless.
Taiwanese expectations were dashed. At 17-14, Satwik had had enough of the polite edgewise attack. So he buried a smash straight down the middle.
