Sometimes losing is also better: Satwik-Chirag after India Open final loss

The number two seed Indian duo of Satwik-Chirag want to take this loss as inspiration to do well in the upcoming tournaments, including the Paris Olympics

India’s premier badminton tournament, India Open Super 750, came to an end on Sunday, January 21. But it brought more positives for the Indian shuttlers, despite none of them winning the title in any category. The flag bearers of the indian hopes – men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty – were okay to lose in their third straight final on the BWF World Tour.
 

Speaking in the post-match press conference at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall of Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, Satwik said, “I feel that sometimes losing is better than always winning.”

 

“We have been consistent in making it to the finals and when it matters, the win will eventually come. All three finals that we have lost, have been close games. Playing back-to-back tournaments is tough for us,” added the 23-year-old.

Also Read: India Open 2024 Men's Doubles Final: Satwik-Chirag lose three-set thriller

Wanted to Play Final in Front of Home Crowd

Satwik, who because of his injury was unable to take part in the India Open in 2023, said that he always wanted to play the final in front of the home crowd and therefore it was like a dream come true for him. He also conceded that not being able to win the tournament on home turf was saddening, but it will give them extra motivation to do well in upcoming tournaments.

Hear the crowd go berserk as SatChi pocket first game 21-15  pic.twitter.com/4NEa3msrdY

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) January 21, 2024

“I had a big dream like, ‘crowd ke samne jeetna hai’, I had to win in front of my crowd. So last year when I was not able to play, I felt very bad, I wanted to play with the injury. This time even if I lost in the first round of the Malaysia Open, it would have been fine. But I wanted to play in the final of India Open,” Satwik, a Guinness Book of World Records holder for the fastest smash said.

“I am happy that we lost in front of the home crowd as that will give us a lot of encouragement to do well in upcoming tournaments and make the crowd happy,” he added about how this loss would fuel them to do well going forward.

Wanted to Win Every Point

Talking about the match where the Indians went down in a three-set thriller 21-15, 11-21, and 18-21, Chirag conceded that they were too engrossed in winning every point, instead of playing calmly.

“We never settled down and played random strokes at crucial times. The problem was we wanted to win every point,” said the 26-year-old.

“We could have probably been a bit calmer and played the lifting game. It became very difficult to come back into the second game and then we were only waiting for the third game to begin,” added one-half of the world number two pair.

Effect of Mental Coach on Satwik

Satwik, who has recently tied up with a mental coach, said that he is feeling very calm because of the presence of Shree Advani.

“I never used to believe that it would be so useful. Things have changed for me since as I am always in a calm mood heading into the court. There is a person to share everything. He tells me so many positive things that it makes me very comfortable on the court,” said Satwik about his relationship with his mind coach.

What Did the Winning Koreans Say?

Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae from Korea, who beat the home favourites to lift their first-ever India Open title, were not overawed by the huge crowd against them.

“We did not get nervous with the cheering crowd, as we have already played in similar situations before and we have had enough experience playing in similar environments,” said the world number three men’s doubles pair, who came back after dropping the first set to win the final and avenge their loss in the semi-final of the Malaysia Open Super 1000.