GOLDEN BADDIES

In a candid chat with Swaroop Swaminathan, Shetty and Reddy open up about the bond they've developed, uninhibited energy on the court, pre-planned celebrations and more

- Swaroop Swaminathan

CHIRAG Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, to quote the TikTok generation, have been cooking. They have won titles for fun in 2023. They have closed out matches they had no right to win. They have slapped their opponents for fun. They have wiped their competition. They have picked up all manner of wins. Then, it’s not a surprise to see why even in a loaded field (nine of 10 and 18 of the top 20 ranked men’s doubles teams are from Asia), Mathias Boe strongly believes his wards have a big chance.

In fact, the Dane believes the tools they have in their kit makes them the best pair in the world, currently. “It depends from pair to pair (how do you divorce performance from results),” he told this daily after a training session in Hyderabad ahead of the Asiad. “I feel that if all the pairs play at 100% all the time, I feel that we are the best. We have more tools, we are good at service receiving, best in attacking, we can play from the back court with extreme power... feel we are the best.”

But behind the pair’s ascendance from giant killers (they beat the 2021 Olympic champions at the Olympics but failed to advance past the group stages, for example) but lacking that slight bit of professionalism to giants, lies a story of pain, having a lot of fun, learning to communicate in Hindi or English, vibes, sharing a room on tour and becoming friends ‘who share everything with each other’.