Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a rude jolt at the All England Championships. The world No.1 Indians lost to the world No. 9 Indonesian pair of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana 16-21, 15-21 in Birmingham on Thursday.
Satwik-Chirag did not lose a single game in the last fortnight before they crashed out of All England. Playing a fast-paced game, the Indonesians came up with a clear plan. They pushed the shuttle to far corners of the court and gave no space or time for the Indians to play their attacking game.
Fikri-Maulana focused on keeping the shuttle flat, thereby restricting the attack option. From 7-6 in the first game, they raced to 13-6 with a six-point burst. Though the Indians reduced the gap to 15-17 they committed a few more unforced errors.
The Indonesians continued in the same vein in the second game and raced to an 11-6 lead. Though the Indians worked hard and closed the gap to 13-14, their rivals once again widened the gap to 19-15.
Focusing on the corners, they controlled the game as the Indians ran helter-skelter to retrieve the shuttle.
Maulana was at his fluent best and came up with two power-packed smash winners to pack off the Indians.
