Today we didn’t play, the crowd played with us…it’ll take a lot of time to believe that we’re the Asian champions: Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy

Minutes after he partnered alongside Chirag Shetty to become the first Indian men’s doubles pair to win Badminton Asian Championship, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy couldn’t get used to the feeling and conceded that it might take a lot of time for him to.
“Personally for me, it will take a lot of time to believe that we are the Asian champions. I still don’t believe we are Thomas Cup champions. It’s our dream to win for India and make the flag fly high. Good boost for us as we go into the Olympic qualification period,” he said in the press-conference after the Indian pair bested their Malaysian counterparts Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi 16-21, 21-17, 21-19 in the final.
He’d also add, “I think today we didn’t play, the crowd played with us. It was a bad start in the first and half of second game, but we didn’t give up. We kept our nerves; we know how to play these situations. So, we were waiting for the good rhythm and then take our chances. We were calmer in the second and third games. It felt like playing in Hyderabad. The crowd was amazing.”
The Indians who won the Swiss Open earlier in the year, are also the first Indian men’s doubles pair to win a bronze at the the World Championships and were part of the first Indian team to win the Thomas Cup last year.

On Sunday though, they’d be tested the Malaysian pairing, who won the first of three games and also took a lead in the second.
” After 13-8 we tried to play little smarter. Service was one thing that worked really well for us; it took them surprise. We were also a lot calmer while defending as well,” Chirag Shetty shared.