Indian badminton has been on the upswing since the time PV Sindhu bagged the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze five years later at the Tokyo Olympics.
There is an upsurge of world-class badminton talent emerging from India off late and the likes of HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen are all part of that brigade and have made a mark for themselves.
India's victory at the Thomas Cup gave a lot more momentum to the team and its ambitions for the future.
Satwik & Chirag's dominance
However, the biggest revelation in Indian badminton off late has been Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who are on a winning spree this year and the Korea Open has been their latest triumph.
They have won three titles this year including the Indonesia Open, Swiss Open and Korea Open and have now achieved their all-time best World ranking of No 2.
Looking at the way Satwik and Chirag go about their business, one is reminded of another famous pair in Indian racquet sports: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
Following in the footsteps of Paes and Bhupathi
Paes and Bhupathi were phenomenal in the late 90s with the duo clinching three Grand Slam doubles titles including the French Open titles of 1999 and 2001 and Wimbledon trophy in 1999.
The year 1999 was the peak of the Paes-Bhupathi pair and they reached four men's doubles Grand Slam finals out of which they won two and fought hard and lost the other two.
The duo were in a flow state as the sporting analogy goes and the World No 2 badminton pair of Satwiksairaj and Chirag are in a very similar mode at the moment.
Winning is a habit, especially in professional sport. And when as a team you are on a winning spree, then maximize that mode to the fullest is what sports pyschologists would say. And the Satwik-Chirag pair would be concentrating on executing that aspect in particular every time they take the court at a major BWF event from hereon.
With three titles already this year and with July not done yet, there is a lot more lined up for Satwik and Chirag and one only hopes they keep the form and flair going ahead.
The winning streak and Olympic ambitions
With the 2024 Paris Olympics on the horizon, Satwik and Chirag would be looking at trying to crack the yellow metal as they would believe they have it in them to go all the way.
In the Korea Open final, the Indian duo had beaten Indonesia's World No 1 pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Arian Ardianto to claim the crown. So, given their world-beating potential that has been proven time and again the pair would certainly fancy their chances at the Olympics as well.
Staying focused for success
The likes of Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Srikanth etc are definitely in the mix and are certainly medal hopes at the Olympics but don't be surprised if this men's doubles pair pull off something spectacular in Paris.
They would have to keep their focus and maintain their composure on the way and not get carried away and if they manage to do that, they stand a real chance of pulling off something big.
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