The venue was the same. The stage of the competition also the same. The stakes were at their highest and the head-to-head record a little on the negative side. Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik yet again stood in the way of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and a World Championship medal. In our work group, people kept wondering why it was that the Indian pair kept bumping into the two Malaysians.
Perhaps it was destined. Chia and Soh could have lost their second round match against Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap. They were a game down and had match points against them in the decider. And yet they came through to set up the Sat-Chi clash. The Indians, on the other hand, had to beat Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, a pair they hadn’t beaten since 2023, to make the quarter finals. It became harder after they lost the first game. That was when something happened. A sporting miracle of sorts. The Chirag dive summed it up. All of a sudden, there was renewed energy, renewed effort and a degree of resilience that has defined the story of this pair.
Tan Kim Her was there all through to help. Sumeeth Reddy was talking up the “daring” attitude. The stage, in every sense, was set. First the Chinese, and then Chia and Soh – Satwik and Chirag have finally turned things around and can perhaps say that the nightmare of Paris 2024 is over.
It was the Delhi Vedanta Half Marathon in October 2024, and Chirag was there for an event in the lead-up. He looked lost and depressed. Not the Chirag I have known over the years, and you could sense that he was hurting. Satwik was recuperating from an injury and the pair were on a break. It was hard for them and the loss was real. Having been in Paris and seen them go through the pain, I had an idea how tough it was. It was so near and yet so far. They played awesome till things just went away from them. The only thing that could lessen the pain was a comeback. It happened in some months, and yet things weren’t complete.
The world championships helped set the stage. As the only Indian representation left in the fray, they needed to uphold the record of India winning a medal every year since 2011. They needed to fight the nerves and also the Paris 2024 demons. Finally, they had to beat two players who know how to win on the big stage. The match was billed as a classic and, to an extent, it lived up to that. When the final shuttle went out, Satwik had a blank smile on his face. It was relief and joy all meshed in one.
Chirag had found his voice and the Tan embrace was evidence what it meant to him. At 1:30am in India, I could feel the nerves. The Indian pair needed this win badly. For their self-respect and more. They needed to move past Paris and put things to bed. It happened at the same venue and at the same stage. That’s sport.
They now play Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi, who they beat in their only previous meeting in the Thailand Open final in 2024.The story isn’t over yet, and now the question is whether Sat-Chi make the finals? Tonight will be another long one.
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