Satwik Chirag’s Bronze a proud moment, but fitness key to finals: coach Tan Kim Her | Cricket News – The Times of India

New Delhi: Indian Doubles coach Tan Kim her praised Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty for conquering a bronze medal at the world championships, but admitted that it was a missed opportunity. He emphasized that the couple should concentrate more on fitness to consistently go the distance.The World No. 9-duo registered an impressive victory over the double Olympic medal winners of Malaysia Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the quarterfinals, so that their second world championships were sealed.Their search to become the first Indian men’s doubles that the latter ended with a semi -final defeat against the 11th seeds of China Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi.“I was actually focused on this final of the world championship, but unfortunately they lost yesterday,” Tan told PTI.“Yet they play reasonably well from the first day to yesterday. This year we made at least four to five semi -finals, although we have not yet reached a final.“The progress is there, everything is okay. The only thing is that we missed this opportunity yesterday. But I still honor the boys, they did well.”Tan, 53, believes that the couple must physically push himself to perform better when determining games.“We still have to improve physically. After previously defeating the Chinese couple (Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang) and others, I saw them both a little tired, although they still succeeded in it. But I think they can be fitter, especially for the last piece of decisive games,” he said.“In general I would say that this was their best performance, especially against China and Malaysia. Now everything stays fine, and my next target for them is the Super Series -final. Of course there are other tournaments, but our most important focus is the Super Series -final.”Last year, Satwik and Chirag had missed an Olympic medal after they had lost to Chia and Soh. Their victory over the same Malaysian pair in the quarterfinals was one of the biggest highlights this time.Earlier this year they had also defeated Chia and Soh in Singapore and China.“Before the game we did a lot of video analysis. We recently played the Malaysian couple, where we lost. So we studied those competitions, discussing where we could do what we knew on. In this competition the plan was present,” Tan said.“They were good at defense, employed and received. The only thing that was missing was self -confidence, which is the most important thing.”In the semi-final, Satwik and Chirag wasted an 11-6 lead in the opening match, came back strongly in the second, but staggered in the decision maker after lagging behind 1-9.“We didn’t get the front. The Chinese pushed us a lot with their service, mixed it randomly, and that confused our players about where to intercept,” Tan explained.“Suddenly both did not know what to do and everything they played was intercepted by the Chinese. They were under pressure and from ideas. Normally they are both very good at attack, but yesterday the Chinese defense was solid, forced them in mistakes.“We tried to kill a few shots, but could not finish the rallies, and that made us tired and panicky.”He also noted that the Chinese couple used the film effectively to harass Chirag.Tan, who is credited for bringing Satwik and Chirag during his first Stint in India between 2015 and 2019, returned last December after the Danish coach Mathias Boe abandoned after a disappointing Olympic campaign.“I am in India after five and a half years, I was not with the players all the time, but they have progressed pretty well. They won the Asian games, followed by a few open tournaments.“Then, immediately after the Olympic Games, they suffered a very bad injury. So when I took over, I felt that I had to start analyzing and understanding them before I could set my program.”The Indian pair has passed a challenging phase with injuries, problems and personal setbacks. Satwik struggled with back and elbow lesions that delayed his comeback after the Olympic Games. Just when he returned, the tragedy struck when his father died in February because of a cardiac arrest, followed by another resignation with chickenpox. Meanwhile, Chirag fought against a recurring back injury.“I was very worried about their injuries because we can now see that they are both wounded quite often. Chirag was injured just before England. Now Satwik is fine, and both are doing well, “Tan said.“So I had to control the volume in the training, sometimes give them breaks in between, so that their bodies can recover. I also work very closely with the trainer, especially in the gym, and with the physios to manage these small problems.”Tan underlined that his ultimate focus is on large titles.“After I had experienced this for a few months, I came up with a program. I told them that there are certain things that we cannot do, and that recovery must be a priority,” he said.“I also told them that we cannot play every tournament, because it is not possible to win every time. We have to choose the most important tournaments – such as the All England, world championships, Asian games, Olympic Games.”