Star Indian men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be coached by Denmark’s 2012 London Olympics silver medallist Mathias Boe in the run up to this year’s Olympics in Tokyo.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI), while announcing his appointment on Friday, said that former men’s doubles world No.1 Boe will also be helping out Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy, who are 15th in the rankings for Olympic qualification in women’s doubles and also form mixed doubles pairs with Rankireddy and Shetty respectively.
Shetty and Rankireddy and currently ninth in the rankings for the Olympics with top 16 pairs eligible for the qualification in doubles.
The Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8.
Boe, who ended his playing career in April last year, has partnered with Shetty on a few occasions. He has had a career of a distinguished double, in which he also won the All-England Championships in 2011 and 2015, and was a silver medalist at the 2013 World Championships.
“I have played with him [Boe] and he is a mentor, having guided me earlier. Working with him will definitely help us in the Olympic year. Boe and Carsten Mogenson (doubles partner) have a great record in closing out tight matches. Getting to work with Boe will give us a huge psychological boost,” said Shetty.
“We were confident when we played our second tournament in Bangkok. We are fit and we have the fire in us but we need to do much better mentally. Boe’s appointment will help us win tight matches,” said Rankireddy.
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