Malaysian coach Tan Kim, who brought the famous pair of India Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty together for the first time, has returned to India with the responsibility of her doubles team. Coach Tan arrived in Hyderabad on Sunday night, Satwik confirmed on the sidelines of the Go Sports Awards in Mumbai.
Tan replaced Dennis Mathias Boe, who led the Indians to the top of the world rankings and helped them win the Asian Games gold ad Thomas Cup besides the Indonesian Open, but faced disappointment at the Olympics twice, with 2024 seriously soul-crushing. Although Boye helped them win world bronze by climbing into the top 5, the current No. 9 pair will be aiming for the All England and World Championships in the coming years under Malaysia’s guidance.
A highly-anticipated reunion was the Malaysian brainwave to pair the two towering shuttlers who played with different partners – Krishna Prasad Garga with Satwik and MR Arjun with Chirag – before the Rio Olympics in 2016. But Tan saw immediate potential in the two, even playing against each other in the 2014 Junior International final.
After 2017, Tan picked up a well-rewarding offer with Japan, Satwik-Chirag still winning international series titles – starting in Mauritius in 2016 within months of the pairing. Their first tour title will come in 2018 in Hyderabad.
Asian Games gold medalists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wee Yik in the semifinals of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2024 at the IG Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Satwik anticipates picking up where he left off with the coach with much warmth and affection. “Coach Tan was supposed to come before the last Olympics, but for some reason he couldn’t. 2022, I think. But he was very keen, he wanted to do something for India, for us. Every time we go to tournaments, he still talks like he’s our coach. So he has that special bond for us, maybe we are like new babies to him. He connected us. So we became world number 1 from there – out of nowhere, we became world number 1. So we have that special relationship with him,” she recalled of always missing Boi. “Obviously we miss Boi. We are used to him,’ he said.
Coach Tan is also expected to help support the other pairs, and take the doubles progress a step further.
Both Satwik and Chirag were not averse to playing doubles but needed to be convinced that they could play together. Tan, with his foresight, knew that it would take time because they belonged to different geographies and regions, and was told to break the previous partnership. Tan had always stressed that they needed to work on their personal bond, build friendships for on-court chemistry to then organically feed off that mutual trust. He neither rushed them, nor pushed them to do it, leaving them to build bonds.
But he and national coach Pullela Gopichand quickly realized how deadly they could be given their tall attacking play. Chirag, in terms of learning the net-game from scratch, did the heavy lifting, but Satwik also needed to be convinced to step out of his comfort zone and try combinations. Tan, along with Gopichand Satwik, worked to build the foundation of the partnership, while Boye helped them achieve the elusive breakthrough.
India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty play against Indonesia’s Fajr Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto during the men’s doubles badminton group stage match at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
“We are very happy that he has come, it has come at the right time. We are now focusing more on the big tournaments,” added Satwik. The pair recently played in the semi-finals at the China Masters, but are facing a new pairing.
Although this duo can beat almost every pairing behind their attack, there are also some very visible tactical gaps in their games that need to be filled. And Coach Tan will be aware that strategizing at the top level for their specific game, fighting for the top lost title, fusing their will will be very different from the initial challenges.
Satwik said that the details were not clear. “We haven’t started that. I don’t know what his training is like. Because we are used to that European style of play,’ he said.
Tan also needs to factor in injuries and tears over the past five years. “When we were young, we followed him. But now maybe it will be the other way around…our tips, maybe what works for our body. At that time we were young, our bodies could do anything (pushed into training), he says. Now we will sit and talk and decide what works for you according to your body,” added Satwik.
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Of course we miss Boi. We are used to it. Coach Tan was supposed to come to the last Olympics but for some reason he couldn’t. 2022, I think. But he was very keen, he wanted to do something for India, for us. Every time we go to tournaments, he still talks like he’s our coach. So he has that special bond for us, maybe we are like new babies to him. He connected us. So we became world number 1 from there – out of nowhere, we became world number 1. So he has that special relationship with us. We are very happy that he has come, it has come at the right time. We are now focusing more on the big tournaments.
Where can he make a difference?
We haven’t started that. I don’t know what his training is like. Because we are used to that European style game. When we were young, we followed him. But now maybe it will be the other way around…our tips, maybe what works in our bodies. When we were young, our bodies could do whatever they told us. Now he said we sit and talk and decide what works for you according to your body.