Badminton doubles: Garaga, Goud ready to cope with expectations

Krishna Prasad Garaga (left) and Vishnu Vardhan Goud with their Orleans Masters trophies. PIC/Badminton Photo

The Indian men's doubles pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga, 21, and Vishnu Vardhan Goud, 20, may not have won the title at the Orleans Masters badminton tournament in Paris on Sunday, but they are pleased to have managed to reach the final of a Super 100 tournament.

In the hard-fought final, they lost to England's fourth seed pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 21-19, 14-21, 19-21. This was the first event Garaga and Goud had played as a pair. Talking to mid-day.com, Garaga said he is pleased the way the tournament turned out for Goud and him. "We are really happy with the way we performed in Orleans. This was our first tournament together. Our match in the quarter-final against the French pair [Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov] was a tough one and the final was really close," said Garaga.

It was only last November that India national coach P Gopichand asked Garaga to play with Goud since he didn't have a partner after his earlier partner Shlok Ramchandran decided to quit badminton. Garaga used to partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in his junior days. After Satwik and Chirag Shetty were paired together, Garaga started playing with Dhruv Kapila since November, 2016, but the duo separated in 2019. "We started playing together since November 2020. Gopi sir suggested it [the pairing] as I was without a partner," added Garaga.

Krishna Prasad Garaga (right) and Vishnu Vardhan Goud in action during the recently-concluded Orleans Masters. PIC/Badminton Photo

For Goud, the Orleans Masters was his first international tournament at the senior level. He is aware that after their performance in Paris, expectations will increase. "We didn't expect this result in our very first tournament as a pair. The expectations on us will surely motivate us to be better and to put in more effort," said Goud.

While most players start playing singles before they take up doubles, Goud said the best part for them is the fact that they both liked playing doubles from the start. "We always enjoyed playing doubles so we continued. And we are both equally aggressive and I really like that aspect in our pair," remarked Goud. Ask them who their role model is, and Garaga says it is former World No. 1 doubles specialist from South Korea, Lee Yong-dae. For Goud, it is Indonesia's Beijing Olympics gold medallist and two-time All England champion, Hendra Setiawan.

Currently, the duo are training at the Gopichand academy in Hyderabad and will now figure in the Yonex Sunrise BAI Series Senior badminton tournament 2021 in Bangalore from April 18 to 25. After that, it will be the India Open in New Delhi from May 11 to 16.