Badminton ace Chirag Shetty: Will treat the Tokyo Olympics like just another tournament

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have turned a few heads with their performances on the court since they started training under Mathias Boe.

The 40-year-old is an Olympic silver medallist in men's doubles (London 2012) and also held the numero uno position in the world partnering fellow Dane Carsten Mogensen.

The Indian pair have benefitted immensely from his experience and are working on their defense and counter attack ahead of Tokyo 2020, set to start on July 23, 2021. This will be the maiden Olympics for both the players and they are working on the finer points to ensure they make a mark on the grandest stage. Having achieved a career-high ranking of No 7 in 2019, the team is currently ranked No 10 in the world.

Chirag-Satwik have curtailed their tendency to go on the front foot at every given opportunity and have now adopted a more balanced approach, which gives them the time to build a rally and strike at the right time.

"It was a different kind of experience. We are going in the right direction and the results will come. If we want to beat the best we have to play differently," Shetty told Olympics.com.

"We are trying to keep the shuttle low so that we stand a better chance of winning the point. It not only important to challenge them on the net, but also we need to start the rallies and convert them into attacks. Against the Indonesians, you always stand a better chance to win if you go into rallies. They try to play as short as possible so that they don't get tired. So longer the rallies, the better."

They are also chalking out a blueprint to improve their performance against a certain Danish pair of Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen, who have were troubled them in the past. At the Swiss Open, Chirag-Satwik fell to them in straight sets and at the All England Open, they stretched the match to three sets but couldn't quite beat the Danes.

"In both the tournaments, we were trying new things. It definitely takes some time to settle down. We didn't play to the best of our abilities. But it is a different kind of game. I can always go back to the playing style that I have been following all these years. But it is necessary to reinvent yourself and try something new. We did that in those two tournaments. Sometimes it will work and sometimes it won't. In the upcoming tournaments, we will definitely put up a better show," the 23-year-old said.

Shetty feels that training under Boe has made them more competent to stage a challenge against their higher-ranked competitors.

"Like if someone is pushing what we usually tend to do is try to push back harder. Sometimes it works but against faster players like Indonesians, it might not always work. They purposely draw you into that trap to hit on their body and doesn't matter how hard you hit they are always ready. So you need to have a calm mind to function in the court so that you choose the right shot," he further explained.

Going into the Olympics they are training relentlessly with two sessions a day. Simulated match conditions are being set up so that they remain on the edge and are prepared for any eventuality. However, the lack of competitive minutes is a concern, since the tournaments are getting canceled or delayed due to the pandemic.

But this has only made their practice sessions more intense.

Shetty put up a brilliant show at Commonwealth Games 2018 where he won gold in the mixed doubles and a silver in his pet event, the men's doubles. However, this will be his first Olympics and there are bound to be nerves heading into Tokyo. But the Mumbai player has got his own mantra to deal with it.

The best have always kept it simple. And with Boe, himself an Olympic medalist, as their mentor the youngsters will always have a person to look up to in troubled waters.