Badminton Asia C'ships: 'They are like idols', says Satwik on beating Ahsan-Setiawan with his partner Chirag

After assuring a men’s doubles medal at the Badminton Asia Championships after 52 years with his men’s doubles partner Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy said that Indonesia’s experienced duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, whom they beat in the quarterfinals, are like idols and they have been following them since young age.

The Indian duo of Rankireddy and Shetty won the quarterfinals 21-11 21-12 against Ahsan-Setiawan.

“Playing against senior players like them, there is no strategy. They can come back at any time; they have that mindset. So from starting onwards, we didn’t take it as pressure and we tried to enjoy every point.

They are like idols. We have been following them since a young age. When we took our racquets, they were already All England champions and world champions. So, we know how they play,” said Satwiksairaj after the win.

“But going into the match, we had a strategy with our coach and focused on the service receiving – they are very strong at it. After the injury, the way we are playing it’s a good sign for us,” he added.

Asked how proud he is with the achievement, Chirag Shetty said that the job is still not done.

“The job is still not done. We played some really good badminton today,” said Chirag.

Commonwealth Games 2022 men’s doubles champions Satwik and Chirag will now face Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin in the last four encounters.