Smash Hits

OUR FINEST SHUTTLERS IN 2023, THEY WON THE ASIAN GAMES GOLD—-THE FIRST FOR INDIA IN BADMINTON— BESIDES FOUR OTHER TITLES, CLAIMING THE WORLD 1 RANK ON THE WAY

- Suhani Singh

THE DOUBLES IN BADMINTON IS LIKE WATCHING A SPORTING PAS DE DEUX, but not one with too much time for slow-moving elegance: this is the part of ballet that involves leaps, pirouettes, rapid exchanges at the net, fast smashes, unbelievable retrievals and spatial awareness between the partners. As a men's doubles pair, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have all that, but what they also bring to the court is a distinct swagger. To describe themselves, though, they dipped into tennis. "I like Federer; he likes Nadal. Sometimes when we both come together, it's Djokovic," said Satwiksairaj, while speaking to INDIA TODAY before the Asian Games in September 2023. That expressed more than just honest admiration of their favourite stars. It spoke to how they work so telepathically as to almost become one organismic unit.