badmuse
Regular Member
Link: https://bwfworldtour.bwfbadminton.c...-guns-stun-world-champs-thailand-open-finals/
Shetty and Rankireddy are the ones to watch.
YOUNG GUNS STUN WORLD CHAMPS – THAILAND OPEN: FINALS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 4, 2019
TEXT BY GEETHANJALI LAKSHMAYYA | BADMINTONPHOTO
India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when they gave world No. 2 China’s Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen their marching orders in the men’s doubles at the TOYOTA Thailand Open 2019.
In their first Super 500 final, Shetty and Rankireddy – ranked No. 16 in the world – needed a little over an hour to outclass the 2018 world champions from China 21-19 18-21 21-18.
Despite a slow start to the year for the Indian pair, with Rankireddy taking the first few months to heal from a chest bone injury, the Indian pair were on top of their game. There seemed to be no evidence of a weak arm as Rankireddy kept up a relentless array of smashes that had the Chinese scrambling.
Rankireddy said: “I was not playing like usual but I kept telling myself that it’s just one more match, one more match. I was so calm and whenever I got a chance, I wanted to finish the shot. I could see that they didn’t want to lift the shuttle for me.”
Li and Liu fell to Rankireddy and Shetty.
Recovering from his initial surprise and speechlessness after the win, Shetty said: “I can’t believe that we’ve just beaten the current world champs. They are really good attacking players so our plan was to keep the shuttle low.
“We varied our shots. We played a few flat shots but then they rushed to the net so we decided that Satwik would play a few hard smashes and I would play some soft shots down to the net. Their defence is usually very good too but I think at their height, it looked like they were struggling to come forward low at the net.”
Liu had only praise for his opponents: “They were more than we expected. They were calm and in control. In stressed situations, they managed to pull through. They are a big potential threat for a long time.”
This mantra of remaining calm and confident has taken Rankireddy/Shetty through the last few days but their success may not have been possible without a change in their training since coming under the tutelage of coach Flandy Limpele of Indonesia.
“Before Coach Flandy, we were doing a lot of on-court training but he put us through a lot of physical training and running. That’s why even though we’ve had a long week, we’re not tired today,” said Shetty.
Shetty and Rankireddy are the ones to watch.
YOUNG GUNS STUN WORLD CHAMPS – THAILAND OPEN: FINALS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 4, 2019
TEXT BY GEETHANJALI LAKSHMAYYA | BADMINTONPHOTO
India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when they gave world No. 2 China’s Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen their marching orders in the men’s doubles at the TOYOTA Thailand Open 2019.
In their first Super 500 final, Shetty and Rankireddy – ranked No. 16 in the world – needed a little over an hour to outclass the 2018 world champions from China 21-19 18-21 21-18.
Despite a slow start to the year for the Indian pair, with Rankireddy taking the first few months to heal from a chest bone injury, the Indian pair were on top of their game. There seemed to be no evidence of a weak arm as Rankireddy kept up a relentless array of smashes that had the Chinese scrambling.
Rankireddy said: “I was not playing like usual but I kept telling myself that it’s just one more match, one more match. I was so calm and whenever I got a chance, I wanted to finish the shot. I could see that they didn’t want to lift the shuttle for me.”
Li and Liu fell to Rankireddy and Shetty.
Recovering from his initial surprise and speechlessness after the win, Shetty said: “I can’t believe that we’ve just beaten the current world champs. They are really good attacking players so our plan was to keep the shuttle low.
“We varied our shots. We played a few flat shots but then they rushed to the net so we decided that Satwik would play a few hard smashes and I would play some soft shots down to the net. Their defence is usually very good too but I think at their height, it looked like they were struggling to come forward low at the net.”
Liu had only praise for his opponents: “They were more than we expected. They were calm and in control. In stressed situations, they managed to pull through. They are a big potential threat for a long time.”
This mantra of remaining calm and confident has taken Rankireddy/Shetty through the last few days but their success may not have been possible without a change in their training since coming under the tutelage of coach Flandy Limpele of Indonesia.
“Before Coach Flandy, we were doing a lot of on-court training but he put us through a lot of physical training and running. That’s why even though we’ve had a long week, we’re not tired today,” said Shetty.
