New Delhi [India], August 20 : Indian men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships after a hard-fought victory, with the duo saying they remained calm and stuck to their game plan during crucial moments.
The Indian shuttlers defeated the Malaysian pair of Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King with a scoreline of 21-23, 21-19, 21-17.
Speaking to reporters after the win, Chirag said they had anticipated their opponents would rely on a flatter game due to the slower shuttles.
"We sort of knew that they would play that kind of game because the shuttles are quite slow. And I think it doesn't really go out as much. So they would want to play a game which is a lot flatter," Chirag said.
He added that the Indian pair managed to neutralise the strategy effectively by keeping their shots low and maintaining their composure.
"We knew what was coming and we just had to keep our calm and keep it inside the court and just try to keep it low. And yeah, eventually it worked well for us and really happy with the win," he added.
Speaking about the momentum swings against Malaysian and Indonesian pairs, the duo said such matches often see quick changes in momentum and require patience.
"It's always patchy with Malaysian or Indonesians. So you'll just quickly get four points, you'll lose quickly four points. So it's always no rhythm game with them," the Indian pair said.
They explained that their opponents often challenge them in the drive game to prevent them from launching attacks, making execution of their strategy difficult.
"We sort of had a game plan before coming. We'll see if we can block and get the attack. So it was tough to execute the plan. The strategy was there. We were just a little hesitant to do the right thing. But eventually we stuck to the plan," they said.
The Indian pair said they kept believing that a short period of strong play could change the match, helping them hold their nerves at crucial moments.
"We knew, in fact, we just needed one good minute. You get four points in one minute. So that's what we kept believing in. So yeah, finally we could hold our nerves in the crucial time and are really happy to be back," they added.
The victory sets up a quarterfinal clash against China's Liang and Wang, against whom the Indian pair have had closely fought encounters in the past.
"It's always been very neck and neck with them. Back and forth, back and forth. Sometimes they win, sometimes we win. And it's going to be a really good match tomorrow. It won't be easy for either side. And yeah, really looking forward to it now," Chirag and Satwik said.
Important results as per BAI:
Men's Singles: 7-Victor Lai (CAN) bt 13-Loh Kean Yew (SGP) 22-20, 21-18; Rasmus Gemke (DEN) bt 3-Jonatan Christie (INA) 11-21, 21-13, 21-18; 11-Alwi Farhan (INA) bt Ayush Shetty (IND) 21-19, 21-11; 10-Kodai Naraoka (JPN) bt 8-Li Shi Feng (CHN) 13-21, 23-21, 21-11
Women's Singles: 1-An Se Young (KOR) bt 16-Mia Blichfeldt (DEN) 21-16, 21-10; 10-Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA) bt 4-Chen Yufei (CHN) 15-21, 25-23, 21-17; 13-Michelle Li (CAN) bt 8-Tomoka Miyazaki (JPN) 17-21, 21-16, 21-18; 2-Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) bt 14-Sim You Jin (KOR) 21-17, 21-10; 15-Line Chirstophersen (DEN) bt 6-Putri Wardani (INA) 21-18, 21-17; 3-Wang Zhi Yi (CHN) bt 9-PV Sindhu (IND) 21-11, 15-21, 21-17
Men's Doubles: 5-Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND) bt Junaidi Arif/Yap Roy King (MAS) 21-23, 21-19, 21-17; 3-Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (CHN) bt Kim Astrup/Anders Rasmussen (DEN) 22-20, 8-21, 21-19
Women's doubles: Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly (IND) bt 7-Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi (JPN) 21-16, 21-12; 4-Jia Yi Fan/Zhang Shu Xian bt Hsieh Pei Shan/Hung En-Tzu (TPE) 21-11, 21-18; 13-Febriana Kusuma/Meilysa Puspitasari (INA) bt 5-Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan (MAS) 20-22, 21-18, 21-12;
Mixed Doubles: 6-Guo Xin Wa/Chen Fang Hui (CHN) bt 15-Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto (IND) 21-16, 21-5; 11-Yang Po-Husan/Hu Ling Fang (TPE) bt 3-Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Boje (DEN) 21-13, 9-21, 21-14.