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CHENNAI: It's barely been three days since they made a comeback after a gap of over two months and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are already grabbing the headlines. The
former World No 1 pair from India recorded their third victory in as many days in the ongoing Singapore Open to edge closer to the title. Their latest conquest, a 21-17, 21-15 win over World
No 1 pair of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin on Friday, was a noteworthy one. A victory that highlights one of the reasons behind their success over the years. They had found a solution to
their recent problem, beating opponents who had outplayed them not so long ago. That has been one of the traits in their career so far. Goh and Nur of Malaysia had silenced the home crowd in
New Delhi during the India Open earlier this year by stopping Satwik and Chirag's run in the semifinals. And the Malaysian duo had finished the task in a flash (just 37 minutes).
Friday was somewhat a similar tale. The only difference was that the Malaysians were on the receiving end this time. Even though they lead the head-to-head record (SatChi entered the contest
with a 6-2 lead), the Indians were facing a tricky proposition ahead of their latest meeting. They had barely had much practice during their absence while the Malaysians have visibly been
on the up, having captured the aforementioned India Open. Last year, they had bagged three titles in the latter half of the season. Satwik and Chirag's absence, as was expected, had
affected their ranking too. Having started the year at No 9, they are currently No 27 (That is bound to improve after this ongoing BWF World tour Super 750 event). "We didn't know
if we'd be playing in Singapore. Frankly speaking, we just trained for 10 days. For me, I had plenty of doubts. With my back condition, I didn't know how it would go but it's
really amazing that we could play the way we played," Chirag said. As the quarterfinal meeting commenced on the day, there was not much between the two sides in the early stages with
the scores locked at 7-7. That's when the Indians stepped up their game, and employed their killer smashes, forcing the Malaysians on the backfoot. Both Chirag and Satwik were
relentless in front of the net and eventually pocketed the first game within 16 minutes. The second essay was also tight at the start but the Indians edged ahead with some resolute bit of
play. The Malaysians did show some spirit towards the closing stages but the Indians stood firm and eventually sealed the deal. Soon after scoring the winning point, the Indians could be
seen celebrating animatedly. This certainly meant a lot to both. "Last year when we played here, we were World No 1 and this year we're World No 27. So it feels really good that we
could beat Goh and Izzudin because we lost against them at the start of the year at the India Open. Sweet victory and we're happy with the way we have played in the last couple of days
and looking forward to tomorrow (Saturday) now," Chirag said. That Indian Open setback was certainly in the back of their minds. Satwik said that they were just focussing on their own
game. "We were well prepared this time and we were more focussed on our strategy than our opponent's strategy. We wanted to bring our A game and see what they come up with. We were
not thinking too much about our opponents and we're preparing ourselves for every point and supporting each other," Satwik noted. They would hope to replicate a similar vibe when
they meet familiar rivals Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, also of Malaysia, in the semifinals on Saturday.