Mumbai shuttler Chirag Shetty along with his doubles partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy became the first Indian pair to win the Yonex-Sunrise India Open title recently, beating three-time world champions Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan of Indonesia 21-16, 24-22. And to have achieved this feat without a coach makes it even more remarkable. The World No.8 Indian pair have been without a specialist coach since Danish doubles legend Mathias Boe’s stint with the Indian team ended after the Tokyo Olympics.

‘It’s tough without a coach’

“We have been without a coach since the Olympics. It’s tough without a coach and we would want a coach soon. So far, we have been managing our own drills,” Shetty told mid-day recently during a visit to his childhood coach Manish Hadkar’s Global Badminton Academy in Virar.