Satwik-Chirag harried and blunted by World No.7 pair Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee

Indian Express

a day ago

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty ended what has been a terrible week for Indian sport, completely in disarray at the Indonesia Open quarterfinals, as they lost 21-19, 21-16 to World No.7 Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee, of Malaysia.
Two rallies, both of which the Indians ended up losing, reached breathless proportions and were extremely watchable because it lured Satwik-Chirag into cross patterns of attack and defense. But they were largely off the boil in the 43-minute match, and looked like they wanted to defer title-winning to mid-western Iowa where they play the US Open next. They just didn't look the part at Jakarta for this weekend.
That, the duo who have had a torrid time dealing with grief, injuries and stop-start form, as well as adjusting to a change of coach, have fetched India's most consistent results in the last few weeks with semis at Singapore Super 750 and quarters at Indonesia Super 1000, is a reflection of the wretched state the rest of the top names, are in.
Having slipped to World No.22 after injury lay-offs due to back and shoulder, the duo are still making the Last 8, fighting with six of their eight combined limbs.
Against the pairing of 25-year-olds from Malaysia, shepherded by the iconic coaching doyen, Herry IP, Satwik-Chirag were rushed and harried and blunted, by the adventurous Man-Tee. Chirag reckoned his best chance was to hit down and straight because the Malaysians scattered themselves and the shuttle into scripted chaos, befuddling the Indians.
The Malaysian attack wasn't bewildering with smashes raining down. They played flat and cross albeit at an altitude and ensured the shuttle got whimmy when dropping at the net or on the midcourt, because of the loopy trajectory they imparted. The shuttle scurried and poked at more jagged angles than a ribbon-wrapped cactus, and Satwik found himself smashing into the net because his control on the shuttle just deteriorated.
The Indians covered a 3-point deficit of 14-17 to reach 19-all against opponents they had never before lost to. But Man Wei Chong was ridiculously incisive from the net. He logged in a second sensational backhand return, completely blind, with his back to the net on a pivot, and was generally a reminder of how his senior Aaron Chia tends to annoy the Indians.
Satwik was singled out to be targeted in the fast, flat exchanges and they largely succeeded despite his defense not entirely wilting.
Change of ends changed no fortunes. And the Malaysian lead simply ballooned from 3-7 to 13-17. The Indians resisted with a 10-6 counter to make it 16-18. But two stunning rallies displayed how speed can shear their attack off power as they hurtled to a straight sets loss.
As takeaways go, the doors were simply shuttered on them and they were left with gulps of water from their bottles and not much else.