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Indian shuttler Chirag Shetty, who along with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, clinched the victory in the men's doubles finals of the ongoing Indian Open 2022, on Sunday, said that the summit clash was one of the best games the duo has ever played.
The Indian pair defeated the Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in straight games 21-16, 26-24 in a match that lasted for 43 minutes. "I think in those closing stages, we were leading 19-17 and then they took the lead of 20-19 and there we knew for a fact that they will try to get an easy point and not go for a thing that would make the rally go long. So we knew that they will serve and cash the first stroke, so we were ready for that and even though we were down with almost 4-5 game points but we kept the calm and knew that if we keep things simple and go give out easy points, even if the shuttle is slow and if we just play the rally rather than giving the easy points, then it would be beneficial for us," said Chirag Shetty during a virtual press conference. "I think strategically it was one of our best games so far. It was a game that was out of our comfort zone I would say, where we were playing strokes that we usually don't play. Even they tried to keep the shuttle low and instead of lifting but today whenever the shuttle was low, we were just lifting it up and being ready for the defence. Instead of hurrying up, we were just lifting it and trying to make it into an attack and that worked for us," he added. Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Shetty said that testing positive is not in any player's hand during the tournament, as they are living in a bio-bubble. "Initially we faced some difficulties. In 2021 we played in these conditions only like when we are in a tournament, we will be getting some COVID-19 positive cases, and we won't be able to play. So, the only thing was to keep our focus on the matches. You can't do anything if you get tested positive because you are not roaming outside, it's not in our hands. So, we need to concentrate on our match and not on other things," said Shetty. Apart from their duo, shuttler Lakshya Sen also won the men's singles final after defeating Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 24-22, 21-17 in the summit clash that lasted for 54 minutes. (ANI)
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