"The crowd put some pressure on us" - Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on his and Chirag Shetty's men's doubles quarterfinal defeat in the World Championships
Indian shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy admitted that he and Chirag Shetty buckled under pressure in front of the Danish home crowd after their campaign was cut short in the BWF World Badminton Championships on Friday, August 26.
The World No. 2 pair of Satwik and Chirag Shetty lost to the local lads, Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, in the quarterfinal at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark. The electrifying atmosphere at the Royal Arena, saw the local supporters vehemently cheer for the 11th-seeded pair of Denmark.
Speaking after the loss in straight sets 18-21 and 19-21, Satwik expressed the difficulty in playing in front of the home team. The 23-year-old said:
"I think we were better prepared before entering the court but the crowd put some pressure on us. We have played huge crowds before, we did it in Indonesia. We defeated world number one there but I guess this time we took more pressure," he added further.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy says they lacked execution
The duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are usually relentless in their attack as they look to put their opponents at bay. On Friday (August 25) however, they seemed scratchy and committed a string of errors.
Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen took an early lead in both sets and the bronze medallist of the previous championship couldn’t catch up thereafter. The Danes were spot on while returning the low smashes of the Indian pair.
Astrup and Rasmussen launched a fierce attack at the end of the first game to push the Indians on the back foot. Satwik admitted to their inability to execute their plans properly in the quarterfinal.
"We played bad and lacked execution. We are not comfortable in the match but we took it close, so that is some positive for us. We win when it is our day but when it is not our day, we learn. We learn how to develop more strategy and what our strong point is. We will work on it and come back stronger,” he stated.
HS Prannoy is the lone player from the Indian contingent left in the World Championships. He stunned the World No.1 Viktor Axelsen 13-21, 21-15, 21-16 in a thrilling quarterfinal to qualify for the semifinals in the men's singles and ensure his maiden medal in the global event.