Asian Games nostalgia: Story of Pradeep Gandhe and Leroy D’Sa, Indian badminton champs before Satwik-Chirag

But that was also Pradeep Gandhe and Leroy D’Sa, who last won a men’s doubles medal for India at the Asian Games, way back in 1982, much before any from today’s team were even born. There are uncanny similarities and plenty of anticipation, Gandhe says, as the Indians set off to China with a realistic chance of winning a men’s doubles medal after 41 long years.

While Satwik-Chirag have surpassed any other doubles pairing in India winning the Thomas Cup and a World Championship medal even, plus the Asian Championship and Indonesian Super 1000 title this year, it is the Asian Games gold, an upgrade, that the 1982 bronze medallists are eagerly waiting for. “They have excelled so much. They are in line to and deserve to win gold,” says Gandhe, now a corporate honcho stitching up deals worth millions.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty of India. (AP)

1982 is a soothing memory, and a joyous recall for the former medallist from Mumbai, though their run-up to the medal in an edition where India picked 5 bronze, was anything but smooth.

When the home team shifted to Delhi for the last phase of preparation, they had to wait a week till they were allotted better accommodation. Not used to playing in 120 feet tall halls like the IG Stadium, D’Sa-Gandhe had always trained in 40 feet tall centres from ground to ceiling, and required 3-4 practice sessions to get used to the drift and lighting of the stadium. Shuttle contact connection and hand-eye coordination needed adjusting as they got a feel of the court only 4 days ahead of the event. They had only just trained with international shuttles from a few months back.

While warming up in one such session, with carpenters still putting the finishing touches, D’Sa-Gandhe would pass the podium which was being hauled about on the sidelines. “Partner, are we going to get a chance to stand on that podium?” D’Sa, a jolly shuttler, had chuckled to Gandhe.

In a stupefying development, Prakash Padukone had been sidelined after being declared a ‘professional’, ineligible to turn out in an amateur Games. It bothered the Indians that Indonesia had contrived to name Swie King an ‘amateur’, and they heard taunts that India couldn’t medal without Padukone in their ranks. Indians were novices then as a squad, in front of Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Korea and Japan. But Indians would end up with bronzes in men’s doubles, Syed Modi in men’s singles, men’s team, mixed doubles and women’s team. In the team championship for men, Indians offered a good fight to Indonesia of Hadinata, Hadiyanto, King and Sugiarto in the semis.

What made the win on Sunday even more commendable was that it came after they had dropped the opening game 17-21. (PTI)

After thrashing Nepal in their individual doubles event, D’Sa-Gandhe would score a tough win over Thailand in 45 minutes, in a 15-point gruelling scoring system. In the quarters, the Indian pairing would play Korea’s second best combine, and beat them 15-6, 15-10, after the Koreans had ousted the Sidek brothers, All England champs that year, shorn of the controversial S-serve which was banned.

D’Sa and Gandhe had a tacit understanding and a non-negotiable rule, that they would not change a strategy that fetched them points, and not attempt risks or cavalier strokes while closing out sets. And that they would go all-out as soon as either team reached the 10-point lead. They would both slow the Korean pace down, and play tosses to push their opponents back.

When the medal was assured, Gandhe recalls leaping really high in the air, highest he ever did by his own admission, and the frame making it to the 8.40 Hindi Samachar, beamed by brand new colour televisions imported for the Asiad that year. Earlier they had studied their opponents minutely to practice where precisely to serve to which opponent, and knew they would need tenacity and patience to secure a coveted men’s doubles medal. Not unlike Satwik-Chirag, the old pairing believed in canny placement play on right and left side of the court, though power is the new Indian pairing’s calling card.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on Tuesday rose to a career-best second spot.

While Gandhe was known for his half smashes variation to the hard smash and net play, as well as being the game controller like Chirag, D’Sa had a resolute defense and – also like Chirag – the forecourt speed.

For Gandhe, the ambition to medal at Asiad started in 1979 Thomas Cup when during a 2-7 loss to Denmark for a bronze / 3rd-4th place finish, him and Partho Ganguli would nick a match from Steen Skovgaard and Flemming Delfs, with Padukone beating Morten Frost for the only other win. India had topped the Asian zone beating Malaysia and it would take them 39 years to make the Top 4, going on to win the whole thing in 2022. But Gandhe knew the novices had spark.

In the lead-up to the Asiad in 1982, the federation would rejig pairings splitting D’Sa – Sanath Mishra and Gandhe – Uday Pawar. The trials would be held in 45 degrees heat at Jalandhar, and D’Sa and Gandhe would meet on the train from Mumbai. Gandhe can’t remember who asked whom to strike the partnership, though both had committed to focusing on singles earlier. D’Sa was Railways and Gandhe was Maharashtra, and it wasn’t conventional for two units to combine, but they agreed to jam together at Jalandhar, combining as two ‘discards’. All pairings were exhausted by the end of the trials in the punishing heat, but D’Sa and Gandhe would secure their individual spot for the Brisbane CWG and the Delhi Asian Games. The discards would eventually nail the medal after a year of playing together.

Satwik-Chirag are indisputably India’s finest, and several upgrades higher heading into Asiad 2023, Gandhe reckons. His only advice to them is to know that the whole country is rooting for them, and waiting with bated breath for the men’s doubles big medal. Should they keep calm heads, they have a chance to forget the Worlds loss or learn from it, at any rate.

Mumbai is hardly a sports hub ahead of the Asian Games, but in two leafy corners of the city, a pair of 60+ seniors truly believe their bronze in men’s doubles from way back in 1982, can be bettered as 2023 September turns to October for a new chapter to be written. The Satwik-Chirag duo, above everything, Gandhe says, is immensely fun to watch – their fight a treat to watch irrespective of the win loss outcome.