My coaching days end here: Boe bows out after Chirag-Satwik fail to win Olympic medal

PTI, Aug 3, 2024, 5:35 PM IST

Credit: PTI

Paris: Mathias Boe, the coach of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, on Saturday announced his retirement from coaching following the ace Indian badminton pair’s exit from the ongoing Paris Olympics.

Satwik and Chirag were considered India’s biggest medal hope at the Olympics but the Indian duo lost to Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, the Tokyo bronze medallists, in the men’s doubles quarterfinals 21-13, 14-21, 16-21 here on Thursday.

Boe, a silver medal winner in the London Olympics, had joined Chirag and Satwik as their coach ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

“For me, my coaching days ends here, I’m not going to continue in India or anywhere else, for now at least. I have spent too much time in a badminton hall and it’s also pretty stressful to be a coach, I’m a tired old man,” the 44-year-old from Denmark wrote on his Instagram account.

Under Boe’s guidance, Satwik and Chirag had claimed a bronze medal at the 2022 world championships and a gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The duo went on to win the Asian Games gold, the Asian Championships title and also achieved the feat of becoming the first Indian badminton doubles team to become world No 1.

The Indian pair additionally won BWF World Tour titles, including the Indonesia Open Super 1000 and Korea super 500 in in 2023 and the French Open super 750 and Thailand Super 500 this year, besides reaching three more finals.

Their sensational run ahead of the Olympics made Satwik and Chirag hot favourites for the coveted title but the duo couldn’t go the distance at Paris, and Boe consoled them.

“I know the feeling all too well myself. Pushing yourself to the limit every day, to be in the best shape of your life, and then things doesn’t go as you would have hoped for.

“I know you guys are gutted, I know how much you wanted to bring a medal back to India, but this time it wasn’t meant to be,” Boe said.

Boe, however, said he is leaving the position as a satisfied man despite his wards failing to return from Paris with a medal.

“You have everything to be proud of, how hard you have worked in this Olympics camp, battling injuries, even taken injections to reduce the pain, that is dedication, that is passion and that is a lot of Heart,” he wrote.

“You have won so much over the past years and you are going to win so much more in the future.”