“At the Olympics it’s a mental thing” - Mathias Boe on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s medal hopes in Paris
The Paris Olympics are fast approaching, and an entire nation’s hopes for a title in badminton are pinned on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. While India has medaled in badminton at every Games since 2012, the glinting gold has slipped the country's grasp each time.
Rankireddy and Shetty have already scripted history multiple times in their meteoric rise to the top, including clinching India's maiden badminton gold medal at the Asian Games.
With all eyes on them at Paris, the duo's coach, Mathias Boe, has pinpointed the mental game as the priority when the time comes.
"If they can play close to their best, then their opponents will have to really play well to have a shot at a medal. We are not thinking about medals. We think of doing our best on court. At the Olympics it’s a mental thing and we have to see how best they are handling it,” he told the Hindustan Times.
Boe, an Olympic medalist himself, went on to acknowledge that while expectations from fans and viewers will definitely weigh heavy on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the internal pressure will be the most prominent.
“There is a lot of expectation from them. You can see that," Boe said. "Every athlete feels pressure at the Olympics, but yes, I can understand, there are few athletes in India who raise hopes of an Olympic medal. We are as relaxed as possible."
"I don’t think it's pressure (from outside).. the biggest pressure comes from inside," he added. "My job is to get them as prepared, see that they get to play as close to 100 per cent. That is my goal."
Mathias Boe pins down Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s biggest competition at Paris
Meanwhile, the men's doubles category is possibly the most competitive event in badminton at the moment. With clear medal favorites in the men's and women's singles readily available, the field is wide open when it comes to men's doubles.
However, Mathias Boe has managed to narrow it down to four pairs that will be the biggest threat to Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s gold-medal bid in Paris.
The pairs, namely - China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, Korea's Min Hyuk Kang and Seung Jae Seo, Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh of Malaysia, and Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen have all previously managed to halt Rankireddy and Shetty on the international stage.
“The top four look good. The Chinese pair looks sharp. Korea are world champions; the Malaysian pair was world champion the previous year. It's a pretty open field in men’s doubles right now. There is no time to rest. We need to be at the top of our game,” Boe remarked.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are currently in action at the India Open, where they demolished Astrup and Rasmussen in the quarter finals, and will take on Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Tik next.