Exclusive: Coach Gopichand cherishes Swastik-Chirag's historic Indonesia Open 2023 doubles title victory

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty create history by winning the men's doubles title in Indonesia Open 2023. In a remarkable feat, they defeated world champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, against whom they had previously lost all eight encounters. The Indian duo faced tense moments, allowing their opponents to save four match points, but eventually secured victory with a score of 21-17, 21-18.

Speaking to Asianet News immediately after the match, India’s chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand admitted that it was one of the most satisfying moments of his coaching career. He also said that “more than the win, which is awesome, it is the manner in which they have played this tournament and are generally playing these days that is brilliant and to beat the world No 1 pair with such ease augurs well for Indian badminton. 
He signed off saying “congratulations to all of us.” 

This victory marks their first Super 1000 badminton tournament win and establishes them as the first Indians to achieve this milestone. In the semifinals, Rankireddy and Shetty had staged an impressive comeback to defeat Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae.

"It's been an amazing week for us. I'm happy with the way we played today and the calm we had, because we had never won against them. Our head to head against them was very bad. We wanted to do well." said Satwik

"This is one of the best stadiums to play badminton in. I want to thank everyone that showed up today and cheered for us. The crowd was simply amazing. It’s very noisy. Unfortunately, this is the last time the tournament will be held in this stadium, but this is the best way to sign off from Istora," Chirag told the stadium presenters. He added

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