16 May,2022 07:46 AM IST | Mumbai | Sundari Iyer
City shuttler Chirag Shetty’s family celebrate after India stun Indonesia 3-0 to win the Thomas Cup Finals at aunt Shailaja’s residence in Dadar
Mumbai-based Chirag Shetty, one half of India's victorious Thomas Cup-winning doubles pair (Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was his partner), didn't allow a back spasm to come in the way of glory on Sunday. And who prouder than his father Chandrashekhar. Shetty and his teammates stunned 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 in the final at Bangkok on Sunday.
"Playing for the country is much above individual pain and what he did today is just incredible," Chandrashekhar told mid-day on Sunday. Shetty Sr underlined that the credit for Chirag and Satwik's recent success goes to Mathias Boe, the London 2012 Olympics doubles silver medallist, under whom the duo trained at the Goregaon Sports Club (GSC) last month for more than a week.
This was even before the Dane's formal appointment as coach of the Indian doubles team. "Mathias is a great coach. His presence makes a lot of difference and he has surely played a role in their approach to the game. The training at GSC had a huge impact and it surely showed today," explained Chandrashekhar. Chirag, who wore a supportive belt and Rankireddy defeated the fancied pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19.
Chandrashekhar and wife Sujata watched the live action together at his sister Shailaja's residence in Dadar. "We usually do not travel when Chirag is playing. But since I had to go to Dadar [from Goregaon] to drop my mother [Rati] at my sister's place, I watched the match with my sister, nephews and my mother. Indeed, it was an incredible win by the Indian team," he said.
Sujata, though, was too nervous to follow the match. "This win is really big and I cannot express my happiness in words. I was really scared and very nervous before the start. I was not watching the match live. It's always the case when he is playing. It was only after my daughter [Arya] said they won, I had a look. I was relieved and felt finally, they did it," Sujata revealed.
