'Paris has always been special for us, our second home': Chirag Shetty

World no. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty broke their BWF World Tour title jinx with a straight win over Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan in the French Open men's doubles final at the Adidas Arena on Sunday.

The Indian duo lost three consecutive finals since November last year. At the French Open, they proved third-time lucky as they went on to clinch the French Open Super 750 for the second time in their career. It was their career's seventh World Tour title. This was their seventh World Tour title.

As Satwik and Chirag won the tournament without dropping a game, they were evidently happy with the feat, coming at the hollowed badminton venue of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

It was the Indian pair's second French Open title in three finals. They last won the title in 2022.

After the victory, Chirag did not hesitate to declare that Paris was their second home.

"It feels really sweet. Paris has always been special for us and we have always played good badminton here and it has been a second home for us. It is a test venue for Olympics but that is still some months away," he told the BAI Media after winning the final 21-1, 21-17 in 37 minutes.

Satwik and Chirag will now look to stay on top of their game and fulfil the dream of winning the All England Open, starting Tuesday in Birmingham.

“I would be lying if I say that I am not enjoying that (winning at Olympic venue) but we have won this final. There is another tournament next week, so looking forward to that," he added.

Satwik, meanwhile, addressed the mantra about his title-winning dance to the tune of the music.

“It all started from Thomas Cup and it became a habit and it has been a long time since we danced," said Satwik.

The 23-year-old also emphasised that there was pressure on them to win the title as they were playing for fun.

"It is after fourth finals. We just wanted to go and have fun and let them earn points and the match,” Satwik said.

“We wanted to give our 100 percent and enjoy. Even Mathias (Boe) kept telling us to have fun and we got back our rhythm and the momentum changed," he added.

Talking about playing German Open champions Lee and Yang, against whom the Indians now have a 3-0 clean sheet, Chirag said, “They had some good weeks, they have beaten some good oppositions, and we knew we can’t take them lightly, their ranking might not be high but they have always been a formidable game. So we are happy that we could take that first game and after initial jittery take the second as well."

Satwik and Chirag will be in action at the All England Open, starting on Tuesday. They will face familiar foes Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia in the Round of 32.