Landing in Paris on Monday afternoon, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty excitedly explored the Games Village, which will be their home for the next couple of weeks for their second Olympics.

Unlike Tokyo though the world No.3 men’s doubles pair will enter the Porte de la Chapelle Arena – venue for the badminton competition in Paris – this weekend as one of India’s brightest medal prospects, even a possible gold.

“If we can come in at our 100% when we play like the way we do, we are very difficult to beat. If everyone hits their 100 percent, I feel we are the best in the world. That’s the advantage we have, of being us, that we can actually trust and have the confidence that we are the best pair,” their coach Mathias Boe said.

“That doesn’t mean we are going to win, but knowing that we’ve the highest level, it’s a nice feeling to have. I feel Satwik and Chirag are, if not the strongest, then at least among the top 3 of the strongest pairs in the world.”

Third seeds Rankireddy and Shetty were handed a favourable draw a week back, placed in Group C with Indonesia’s reigning All England champions Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto (world No.6), German world No.31 Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel and Frenchmen Ronan Labar/Lucas Corvee, the world No.46. The top two will qualify for the quarter-finals where a draw will be held to decide the line-up for the knockouts.

The reigning Asian Games gold medallists have a 3-2 record against the Indonesians and haven’t lost to Alfian and Ardianto since 2018, having won the last three contests. They are 1-0 against the German pair and are 2-0 against the Frenchmen.

“To say who will be their toughest challenge will be really tough to predict. There are at least nine pairs that have won big events (recently). Right now, the world ranking is a good benchmark to see who has been the best. We had to pull out of a few tournaments, otherwise we would have been higher than No.3,” said Denmark’s Boe, who won an Olympic doubles silver in 2012 London.

“It is an open field. At this point at least nine pairs can win without it being a huge surprise. That’s what makes men’s doubles exciting this year, maybe the most even discipline of all five. It also gives us a good chance. We’ve beaten all of them, but also lost to them. Makes the challenge more fun.”

This year too, Rankireddy and Shetty have been in brilliant form, reaching four finals – Malaysia Open, India Open, French Open and Thailand Open – winning the latter two for an 23-6 win-loss record. The 2022 Commonwealth Games champions also haven’t dropped out of the world’s top three this year, after twice being No.1.

But the pair also pulled out of some events due to Rankireddy’s niggles. What was thought to be a shoulder issue, which has affected the 23-year-old in the past, was actually a lower back issue that was bothering Rankireddy. Boe said Rankireddy is now in perfect shape and his shoulder and back are fine.

Once in a while, Rankireddy struggles when rivals attack his net game. Boe said it will not be a worry.

“He is great at the net, that is not a concern for me. Both can play at the front and at the back. I actually see it as our advantage. We are the most diverse doubles pair. We don’t have a clear front or back court player. We can play in reverse positions. He has gained more confidence in the front court,” the two-time All England champion said.

Apart from wrestling, only badminton has delivered India medals in the last three Olympics. Saina Nehwal won bronze in London 2012 and PV Sindhu took silver and bronze in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 respectively. Boe believes the doubles pair can extend that run.

“If we have confidence and belief in nerve wracking and tight situations, it is enough to just focus on ourselves and not be dependent on our opponents’ level to drop. Whoever handles pressure the best will have the best chance.

“We are aware of the conditions and what it takes… They have performed many times before too where there were expectations. They are relaxed and are ready for the challenge.”

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