Chirag Shetty believes pairing up with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was a career-defining moment in his career

Indian men’s doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have gone from strength to strength in recent times. The duo have been in sensational form and they created history by winning the Indonesia Open. They defeated the Indonesian pairing of Aaron Chia and Wooi Soh Yik in the finals to lift the crown.

The win also propelled them to their career-best ranking of World Number three in the latest BWF Rankings. Chirag Shetty was very ecstatic after the victory as he believes that combining with Rankireddy was one of the most defining moments of his career.

“Yes, in fact, for both of us, it has been a decisive phase. Initially, I was sceptical for sure. But, when we look back now, it certainly was a very, very good decision,” he revealed in an interview with Sportstar.

The shuttler highlights how there are no specific roles given to either player like it used to happen earlier. He shared how he has developed that synergy and has adapted well to take care of all the departs when they are on the court.

“Definitely, unlike in the past, there are no definite roles like that he should take care of defence or I should attack or vice versa. We are now adept in adapting to a given situation, and our responses in a crisis have been effective,” Chirag opened up on his unique partnership with Rankireddy.

Chirag points out how Rankireddy is a very calm person and makes sure that the pressure does not build around them even during a tough phase. He feels that they complement each other very nicely and the results are there for everyone to see.

“Satwik is a very calm and composed guy, ensuring the pressure doesn’t build up. We complement each other pretty well with a clear strategy going into a match,” he said.
The 25-year-old who hails from Mumbai feels that they need to work on their defence a lot more. However, he also adds how they have been a lot steadier than they were a few years ago. But as they say one must keep improving to be better versions of themselves.

“I believe we need to work a lot more on defence though we are a lot more steadier than we were a few years ago,” Chirag said. “Honestly, learning is a never-ending process as they say. We can never be perfect.”

While this was their first Super 1000 event title, it was very special for the fans and even to them. But Chirag feels that winning any title feels special as he does not delve much into their standards. “I don’t think the difference in standard is too big. And, we still have to give our best to win any title,” he said.

Lastly, he shed light on winning against their arch-nemesis pairing of Aaron Chia and Wooi Soh Yik. They had lost eight times against them in the last eight outings. Chirag revealed that they focused on the match at hand, forgetting all the prior disappointments.

“Yes, beating Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh convincingly in the final, to whom we lost eight times before, was something special. We just put behind the earlier disappointments, and it was quite challenging and eventually very satisfying to win the contest,” he concluded.