In their rivalry that stretches back to TATA Open India International Challenge in 2017, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty briefly found a window where it appeared they had found the solutions against Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik. After going 0-8 in their first meetings, Satwik-Chirag won three in a row in a stretch between Indonesia Open 2023 and India Open 2024.
But now, with their 13-21 17-21 defeat in 42 minutes on Saturday at Changzhou Sports Center Gymnasium in the semifinal of China Open Super 1000, Satwik-Chirag have lost thrice in a row against the world No 2 from Malaysia. It appears once more that the pair that tormented them for so long, are back to being their nemeses, especially considering the heartbreak that Chia and Soh gave at the Paris Olympics last year.
While the China Open reversal comes at a juncture where the Indians are still trying to rebuild their game, the caveat being that they are not at their 100% yet after all the off-court niggles they have had to deal with, the manner of the defeat should be a matter of concern. At the Olympics last August and in the Singapore Open semifinal earlier this year, SatChi took the opening game and went on to lose in three – and the contest was dead even for the most part, the margins fine. But in Changzhou, Chia-Soh outplayed the Indians for large parts, except a brief period in Game 2 where Satwik-Chirag drew level from 12-16 to 16-16.
“We had our chances, especially in the second game,” Chirag would tell BWF later, but he too was aware they didn’t do enough. “But (overall we) were not playing the right game. We were playing strokes which we shouldn’t have, hitting more on Aaron and I think that’s what took the game away from us. When we started playing smarter at 12-16, we came back at 16-16. A good tournament for us, but sad that we had to go out this way.”
Chirag added that they were too late to realise the mistakes they were doing and in a discipline as fast and furious as men’s doubles, where rallies rarely develop out of the first 3-4 shots after service-return, such lethargy can prove mighty costly. “We should have played a little more tactically. We had planned it, but we didn’t execute it as well. I think it will take some time. We are still not at 100% as yet. We still need to get these matches; we can’t be as sloppy.”
The reunion with Malaysian coach Tan Kim Her – the man who responsible for convincing Satwik and Chirag during their early uncertain days – hasn’t quite brought silverware yet. But the Malaysian men’s doubles pairs have been boosted by the arrival of new national coach Herry IP, the legendary Indonesian nicknamed Fire Dragon. The impact, especially on Chia-Soh, has been immediate and immense, as he has overseen the former world champions winning three titles already this year, including the notoriously difficult Badminton Asia Championships.
Chia-Soh are already a pedigreed duo but Herry has brought about a relentlessness to their game. Their flat attacking game was always their biggest strength but in the past they have shown a tendency to ditch their Plan A and resort to defensive lifts if they were under pressure – Herry seems to have drilled that out of them, and they rarely gave Satwik-Chirag the chances to go on their attacks.
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And when the Indians did find the height or time to launch their smashes, Soh and especially Chia were sensational on defence, extending rallies they had no business extending, and forcing the Indians into unforced errors, of which there were many especially in the opening game when Satwik and Chirag mishit quite a few shots under drifty conditions.
It isn’t a cause of alarm, not yet. But at some point, Satwik-Chirag would have to find more consistent solutions to the flat game that the Malaysian pairs – not just Chia-Soh – are becoming experts at. Last week in Japan, Satwik hinted that he has been working on a spin serve in training, bringing in that variation to their game would be a good start. There is no doubting the brilliance of their Plan A, but a few variations to disrupt their opponents could well be the next step.
An’s Slam dream over
An Se Young began China Open with a dream of achieving something incredible: winning all Super 1000s of the year to complete a Calendar Slam. But on Saturday, bothered by a knee injury, she was forced to retire hurt while 19-21 6-11 down against Han Yue. The reigning Olympic and World Champion from Korea, who had won titles at Malaysia, All England and Indonesia Opens, has been near unstoppable this year. “I’m very disappointed (at missing the Super Slam) but it can’t be helped that I got this injury. Although I really wished to accomplish this record, my body failed me,” she told BWF.
A consequence of An not competing for the China Open title on Sunday is that, incredibly, four out of the five finals are all-Chinese affairs. The only final to not feature China is men’s doubles, where Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik – after their win against India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty – will take on scratch Indonesian pairing of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri.
