French Open: Lit Arena Ignites Satwik/Chirag’s Diwali
A day after Diwali – the Indian festival of lights – Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy used the energy created by the raucous home fans inside Stade Pierre de Coubertin to spark their fightback fire against…
· PREM KUMAR
A day after Diwali – the Indian festival of lights – Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy used the energy created by the raucous home fans inside Stade Pierre de Coubertin to spark their fightback fire against local darlings Christo and Toma Junior Popov.
With the French supporters in fine voice – chants of ‘Popovs’ could be heard reverberating around the arena throughout the 68-minute battle – the host pair snared the opener 21-19.
“It was a good wake-up call. We came 100 per cent prepared, we didn't take it lightly, we knew it would be close,” Rankireddy said. “The Popovs kept the pressure on and the crowd was really amazing. We were shocked (by the noise), when we got out of it almost 20 minutes had passed.”