Rankireddy and Shetty aim to create history at French Open

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty aim to create history as they look to become the first Indians to win a Super 750 title on the BWF circuit when they take on top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the French Open final later on Sunday night. Currently perched at a career-high World No. 11 ranking, their series of top-10 wins this week will help them inch closer to the highly-coveted top-10 spot and a berth at the Tokyo Olympics next year.

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The pair's new record

The pair already made a new record at the Thailand Open in August when they became the first Indian team to triumph at the Super 500 level. At the French capital this week, they have taken it up a level further with their confident strokeplay against some of the best teams in the world.Reigning world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, one of the most experienced pairs to play the sport, fell to the Indians’ variety and superb teamwork. After securing their biggest career win against the World No. 2 duo, they kept that impressive run going against World No. 8 Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and World No. 6 Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe to set up a summit showdown with the World No. 1 pair. It’s their composure under pressure that has been the very reason for their continued success and rapid improvement, something Chirag Shetty himself pointed out.

“It really feels good to be playing in the French Open final today and hopefully if we are able to keep the calm and patience that we have shown for the past one week, then I think we definitely stand a chance to win.”

About their wins this week, he said, “Yes, the wins have been pretty good. So hopefully we’ll be able to emulate the things we have done this week today as well. We are going to the court to try and win the match.”The winning mentality and never-say-die attitude have set them on the path to glory. At the French Open, only Kidambi Srikanth has so far tasted success from among the Indians ever since the tournament was upgraded to a Superseries level in 2007. Saina Nehwal was the only other Indian to make it to the final in 2012.Since the new BWF structure came into place and the French Open was given the status of a Super 750 tournament, Nehwal has been the only Indian to reach a final at this level which she did at the Denmark Open last year.

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Can the duo continue their winning streak?

Today, if Rankireddy and Shetty do indeed manage to continue their winning streak, they will become the first all-Indian pair to win the French Open since Partho Ganguli and Vikram Singh did it in 1983. And, considering how Rankireddy battled his way back from a shoulder injury earlier in the year and an illness in Denmark last week, they will definitely give it their all to etch their names in the record books.

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