World No. 1 doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty believe they can soak in the pressure of expectation that is building on them during the run up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by welcoming it with a positive approach.
Speaking from Paris where they are competing in the French Open championships in the Arena Porte de la Chapelle, Chirag Shetty told the audience at Trailblazers 2.0 that the pair would take such pressure as evidence of the growing popularity of the sport in India. “We cannot be complaining when people are raising their expectations. We see it as good for our sport,” he said.
“There is pressure, but it matters how you see it. We take it positively. It is only when you take it in a negative manner that it becomes stress,” he said, indicating that they would work on improving their defensive skills in the run up to the Olympic Games.
“More importantly, we want to sustain our consistency and turn our appearances in the finals to wins by playing our best.”
Chirag Shetty said the pair was aware that pressure would be different in Paris 2024. When asked by the moderator Boria Majumdar, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy said they had learnt to enjoy being in the moment. “We experienced that in Tokyo 2020. I switched off social media but when not on court, I would spend time with other athletes and learning from the conversations,” he said.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy said it helps that the French Open 2024 was being held at the same venue where the Olympic Games competition would be held later this year. “It is very important that we are playing at the same venue. Of course, during the Olympics, it may wear a different look and may be a bit different, but it is important that we get to play at the venue,” he said.