Satwik says pressure from Thai pair cost him and Chirag in shock Asian Games first-round exit

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy said pressure from Thailand's Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun got to him and partner Chirag Shetty after the world No.5 pair suffered a shock first-round exit from the Asian Games men's doubles on Friday. The Indian duo were beaten in what Satwik described as a one-hour-eight-minute contest.

Satwik and Chirag had been part of India's men's team that secured a bronze medal after a 1-3 semi-final loss to China on Wednesday, and arrived back to defend their doubles crown. The pair began the match strongly but failed to maintain momentum as the Thai duo staged a comeback. Satwik acknowledged the scheduling — moving from the team event into the doubles — made the assignment trickier. The defeat ended their defence of the Asian Games doubles title at the first hurdle.

They took the opening game 21-12 but Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun recovered to win 12-21, 21-19, 21-14, overturning the Indians across the remaining games. The match lasted one hour and eight minutes.

"Kudos to them. They kept pressuring us. They kept poking us. I think we couldn't handle it in the crucial parts. I think in the (middle of the) second game, we could have had a different scenario. They played a little bit more free than us," Satwik said.

"Throughout the three games, they played the same rhythm, but I think it's us who gave them the chance to come into the game and give confidence to them. We were high, we were low, we were high, low. I think that was the difference," he added, then pointed to the match schedule: "It will get tense because it will be tricky playing continuously in the team event. We are here last night till 12 o'clock, and right away we are playing one of the good matches. So it's not going to be easy, but we prepared."

Satwik also highlighted the psychological aspect: "It's the mental part. Whenever we are mentally free, I think no one can beat us. But when we are stuck anywhere, we give opponents a chance to beat us. There was no pressure for us. It's every day, the same matches, same players. But it's how you mentally prepare for the tournament," he said.

Chirag acknowledged the pair's shortcomings on court: "We were not up to the mark. Started off well, but second and third game we did not play the right game, and they caught us," he said. "We knew that they would play a lot of crosses and everything. We could have stepped it up a bit and played a little calmer. Credit to them; they didn't let us come close after that. But yeah, we could have been a little smarter."

The loss concluded Satwik and Chirag's attempt to retain their Asian Games doubles gold and leaves the pair to regroup and address the mental and tactical shortcomings exposed by the Thai duo.