In India we put a great honour on a pedestal, I want Satwik & Chirag at practice sessions every day & want to challenge them, says India's doubles coach Mathias Boe
Mathias Boe knows what it takes to win the Thomas Cup. He had done it all in 2016. But in the chair as India's doubles coach, sitting a few feet away from Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty up against four match points in the Thomas Cup final in Bangkok last Sunday, Mathias was doing his best to wear a poker face. "I was trying to stay calm and not look like we have lost" is how the 2012 Olympics silver medallist from Denmark summed up his emotions, while talking to TimesofIndia.com. Mathias has lived through what Satwik and Chirag scripted in those 73 minutes, which involved a miraculous recovery. In 2010, at the All England doubles final, the Dane was at the other side of it, alongside partner Carsten Mogensen. They squandered four match points before losing the fight for the title against their compatriots -- Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen. Mathias could, hence, empathise with the Indonesians - Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sukamuljo - who couldn't convert any of those four match points. He termed it as a "miracle" at the hands of some steely resolve from the Indians that turned the doubles match on its head for a 2-0 lead in the final, which was turned into a title-clinching 3-0 scoreline by Kidambi Srikanth an hour later.
