India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, left, and Chirag Shetty play against China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang during a quarter final match of the Badminton World Championships in New Delhi. (AP Photo)Usually chirpy and vocal on the court, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty quietly walked away as Olympic silver medallist Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China celebrated after winning the men’s doubles quarter finals at the Badminton World Championships.The World no 3 pair not only kept the Indian pair quiet throughout the second game but also silenced the noisy IG Indoor Stadium on Friday. Liang and Wang won 21-18, 21-9 in just 36 minutes.“The first game was really good. But in the second game, we completely fell out of contention,” said a disappointed Chirag after the game.He is not wrong about dominating the first game. The Indian pair was smashing in tandem and troubling the Chinese pair with their chemistry after a nervy start. They went 0-3 down before Satwik smashed one to make it 1-3. He followed it with another smash and one mistake from Wang made the score 4-4.Both pairs made some unforced errors in the early exchanges and a short serve from Liang meant that the Indian pair went to the mid-game break with a11-10 lead. “I think our game-plan was working in the first game but then we committed multiple errors,” said Chirag.After the break, the Indians smashed more than the Chinese, catching them out of space in the mid court. At 14-12, Chirag produced three smashes and Satwik produced two to win the point and make it 15-12.Satwik produced another big smash before forcing an error from Liang on the net to make it 15-13. After two more winners, the Indian duo sat with a 18-16 lead.Story continues below this ad Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have assured themselves of a third World Championships medal. (PTI Photo)However, they squandered a 18-16 lead and lost five points consecutively to hand the Chinese the victory in the first game 21-16. From 18-18, it was three consecutive errors that gifted the Chinese pair the first game. “I wouldn’t say we played badly recently, but there were many instances where we felt we should have secured points but didn’t—even though we played a pretty solid game, including defensively,” Chirag said about the first game.But hindsight, in sports, is like wishful thinking and nothing more. The Chinese stepped up in the second game. The 21-9 scoreline in the second game explains how dominant the Chinese pair was. The main reason behind it was the flat exchanges.Flat exchanges acted as kryptonite for the Indian pair and the Chinese pair milked it very well. “We have played the Indian pair so many times and we know their game. It was a conscious strategy to resort to the flat exchanges and we executed it well,” Wang said after the match.Interestingly, Liang and Wang love to play the attacking game more than flat exchanges. “We weren’t expecting them to play like this. They usually play the lifting game and they are good at that but today they were just pushing the shuttle constantly. It was difficult to execute the lifts,” said Satwik. “They weren’t just retrieving the shuttle; they were effectively converting those situations into attacking opportunities.”Story continues below this adThe Indian pair tried to set up a few points but the Chinese pair anticipated well and countered the strategy. “We tried playing soft drops to create an opening, but they were able to convert those situations effectively,” explained Satwik.Apart from the flat exchanges, the Chinese pair also closed the spaces for the Indian pair to attack. Once the spaces were closed, the Indian pair started hitting more on net and making errors. “They were everywhere. Wherever we were hitting, they would counter it,” said Satwik.With the chance to win a World Championships medal in front of the home crowd gone, the Indian duo have an Asian Games to target in the next month. More than that, Satwik would want to nurse his shoulder.“It’s been a long time with this injury. Sometimes I feel really good, but the next day I feel very stiff or just terrible; so, it’s kind of complicated. But I just need to manage myself and play; I’ve had a good six weeks of rehab and strength training. So, it’s difficult to recover and play again. But today I’m feeling pretty good,” said Satwik.