23 April,2022 08:19 AM IST | Mumbai | Sundari Iyer
India’s doubles coach Mathias Boe (centre) flanked by Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (right)
Mathias Boe, the Danish badminton coach of the Indian doubles team, wants World No.7-ranked pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to stop respecting their opponents too much and focus on their own style of play. Boe, 41, who was re-hired as doubles coach by the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) at a salary of Rs 7 lakh per month in a contract that runs till the end of September's Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, told mid-day on Friday: "They [Rankireddy- Shetty] have the potential to be at the very top. But for that, they need to be a little bit more consistent. They have too much respect for their opponents; need to put the respect on hold and focus on their game style. If they can be a bit better tactically and take advantage of their strength and at the same time, their opponents' weak side, they can achieve a lot more. These are some of the things that we plan to work on in order to win tournaments."
The London 2012 Olympics doubles silver medallist has been training Rankireddy-Shetty at the Goregaon Sports Club for the past one week, even before his formal appointment as coach. "Since the Badminton Association of India [BAI] had selection trials in New Delhi, Chirag and Satwik were left with no sparring partners. So, we flew in a couple of juniors from Hyderabad and have been practising in Mumbai. "In every exercise, we aim to be perfectionists and better in tactical aspects of the game. In every exercise, we try to adjust small things that would have helped me to do better in my playing days. That's how I see badminton," said Boe.
Boe, who trained the duo ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, is taking it one tournament at a time with Rankireddy-Shetty. His current focus is to prepare them for the April 26-May 1 Badminton Asia Championships in Manila. "The plan is to concentrate on next week's tournament for which we are leaving on Saturday. After that, I follow the Indian team to the Thomas and Uber Cup [May 8-15 in Bangkok]. There are so many important tournaments before the Commonwealth Games [July 28- August 8 in Birmingham] and the Asian Games [September 10-25]. We have a good chance of winning a medal at the Thomas Cup. We are hungry to win tournaments. Just before the Asian Games, we will assess our wins and defeats and give it our best to win," explained Boe, the former World No.1 doubles star.
The Indian women's doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponappa on Friday withdrew from the forthcoming Uber Cup tournament due to the former's injury, Badminton Association of India (BAI) said. The tournament is scheduled to be held in Bangkok from May 8 to 15. "Sikki Reddy has suffered a Grade 2 Tear of the Abdomen (abdominus rectus) as confirmed by an MRI and has been advised 4-6 weeks rest by the doctor," the BAI said in a statement.
