Feeling to be part of the Olympics is indescribable, admits Chirag Shetty

Feeling to be part of the Olympics is indescribable, admits Chirag Shetty

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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (left) and Chirag Shetty were eliminated in the group stages of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

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The feeling to be a part of the Olympics is indescribable as per Chirag Shetty, who along with men’s doubles partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy narrowly missed out on a quarter-final qualification in Tokyo, earlier this year. In spite of winning two matches, the duo failed to qualify for the knockouts.

The Indian pair of the Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty was pitted alongside world no 1 pair of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia in Group, with pairs from Chinese Taipei and Great Britain also making life tougher. In spite of a loss to Indonesia, India managed to defeat the other two pairs in the group.

However, with the top team losing to Chinese Taipei, three pairs were tied at two points each. On the grounds of winning fewer games, the Indian duo was eliminated from the competition. In a recent interview, Chirag Shetty revealed how he was really happy with the first experience at the Olympics, but unfortunately could not make it to the quarter-finals.

"But unfortunately, the results were very unexpected and everything turned around in the last moment so I think it was difficult to digest, but that's how the sport is and you have to live with it. But that aside, I was really happy with my first experience at the Olympic Games. We played some really good badminton but unfortunately, we were not able to enter the quarter-finals," said Chirag Shetty, in an interview with Bridge.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have been India’s top men’s doubles pair in the recent past. With their whole career in front of them and the 2024 Paris Olympics not too far, the Tokyo Games was a huge learning curve for them. Chirag admitted how the feeling to be a part of the quadrennial event was something indescribable.

"My favourite part would have to be my experience at the Olympic village; I think it was something different. To know that you are among the best athletes in the world - the fittest, the smartest, the strongest, and to be one amongst them...that feeling is indescribable," added the 24-year old.

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