Badminton gamers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy pose for images after successful the gold medal in males’s doubles at Badminton Asia Championships 2023, in Dubai, on April 30, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was nonetheless in disbelief after he and his companion Chirag Shetty created historical past, turning into the primary Indian pair to win a doubles gold on the Asian Championships right here on Sunday.
The 2022 World Championships bronze medallists pair broke a 58-year-old drought, turning into the primary Indians after Dinesh Khanna to be topped champions on the continental championships.
Satwik and Chirag edged previous the Malaysian mixture of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi 16-21, 21-17, 21-19 in a nail-biting closing to perform an impressive victory within the continental championship.
“Personally for me, it will take a lot of time to believe that we are the Asian champions,” Satwik stated through the press-conference.
“I still don’t believe we are Thomas Cup champions. It’s our dream to win for India and make the flag fly high. Good boost for us as we go into the Olympic qualification period.” Khanna is the one Indian to say the gold medal, having achieved the feat when he beat Thailand’s Sangob Rattanusorn within the males’s singles closing in 1965 in Lucknow.
India’s earlier greatest efficiency in males’s doubles on the Asia Championships was a bronze-medal end by Dipu Ghosh and Raman Ghosh in 1971.
Satwik and Chirag confirmed great grit as they by no means gave up after shedding the primary recreation and being 7-13 and 11-15 down within the second and third recreation to safe the primary gold for India in doubles.
“I think today we didn’t play, the crowd played with us. It was a bad start in the first and half of second game, but we didn’t give up,” he stated.
“We kept our nerves, we know how to play these situations. So, we were waiting for the good rhythm and then take our chances. We were calmer in the second and third games. It felt like playing in Hyderabad. The crowd was amazing.” It was the second title of the season for Satwik and Chirag, who continued to stay the most effective shuttlers for the nation on show this season.
Chirag stated: “After 13-8 we tried to play little smarter. Service was one thing that worked really well for us, it took them by surprise. We were also a lot calmer while defending as well.” Besides the Asian Championships title, Satwik and Chirag additionally gained the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 5 profession titles on the BWF World Tour.
