Mathias Boe’s emotions were everywhere. It was the morning after India’s first Thomas Cup title in the tournament’s 73-year history and Boe, the coach of the Indian doubles team, was still reeling on Monday morning. “I eat late at night, sleep very little. I’m tired. My body ached. I’m a bit exhausted mentally. But this is the best feeling ever,” he said from Bangkok.
The man from Denmark thinks he’s done with this emotional roller coaster ride. At the end of last year, the 41-year-old thought he was done playing badminton. His contract to train Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankedlydy ended after the Tokyo Olympics. The 2012 Olympics silver medalist and 2016 Thomas Cup winner retired three years ago, and with the last loose ends in his coaching career, he wants to try his hand at other things. There’s a real estate development business in Dubai, and a bunch of smart investments in the hot stock market. He’s even built up a bit of a following on the investment strategy podcast he hosts.
“I have a love-hate relationship with badminton,” he said. “It gave a lot but also took a lot. It’s a bit brutal. My whole life revolved around this. It limits me in my life. You are constantly thinking about what you have to improve. There is a lot of self-criticism. And then there are the losses. The frustrations after a hard defeat is something that will haunt you forever. I’m sure I’ll remember in my hospital bed the four game points I lost in the 2010 All England final. These are the scars you intentionally plant in your soul,” he said.
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The latest scar is the Tokyo Olympics. He along with Chirag and Satwik prepared himself to the limit. Then, despite being the only pair to beat a Chinese Taipei pair who would win the Tokyo Olympics, they were eliminated in the group stage by an unlucky permutation. Boe was quite happy to walk. “I would love to have a lot of free time, doing nothing but focusing on my business. I’m enjoying life and doing all the things I can’t do in competition. Relax. Eat a little more food. Let’s have a little more wine and don’t think too much,” he said.
Just as he settled into the cozy expatriate life, he received a call from a familiar number. “I was probably in the pool when I got the call from Chirag. I have kept in touch with both of them (Satwik and Chirag) and Gopi (former national team coach Pullela Gopichand). After the Olympics, I suggested they get a really good doubles coach. But for whatever reason it doesn’t go through. And then Chirag asked me if I wanted to go back to being a coach for a limited time only,” he recalls.
While Boe already has a solid foot in his post-badminton future, he admits part of the love of his love-hate relationship with the sport. “I guess I realized I missed it. I know my girlfriend (actor Taapsee Pannu) is busy filming in the summer, so I thought why not. The lowest level in the sport is the lowest in the world. That’s very hard but that’s also why the highs are still so high. The experience we had yesterday after producing the best results they’ve ever had; That high can’t compare to anything. That is why you are willing to accept these scars. That’s how the love-hate part of the sport works,” he said.
When Boe returned, Chirag and Satwik had gone 9 months without a foreign coach. Boe quickly focused on hitting them back into shape. “I think they were a bit more disorganized than the last time I was here,” he said. Dane worked on enhancing the practice sessions. “I prefer doing shorter, very intense sessions with 100% focus and intensity than going to the three-hour courthouse where you are half the time.”
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Boe’s theory is that an average badminton doubles match only lasts about 45 minutes, so it doesn’t make sense if you train for four times that length. “I have seen training problems because of the number of Indian players. They would play really well, but suddenly, completely lose focus for about 30 or 40 seconds. At that point, the theory will lose three or four points, which will be very important. You can play badminton very well for 39 minutes, but if you lose focus for one minute, you lose the game,” he said.
No training day is easy. “He is very different from other coaches,” said former international doubles Arun Vishnu. He said: “He won’t think twice about yelling at the players.
For Boe, that discipline is non-negotiable. “I have lowered my training time on the field. Including a warm-up session, they would train for two and a half hours in the morning and maybe an hour three times a week in the afternoon versus three and a half hours and four hours. they did before. But that’s why it can be very difficult for me if they suddenly zone out in the session. I am disciplined. “As an athlete, if you want to get to the top, you have to be extremely disciplined. We need discipline and I need their brains to run at 100% per minute so they can figure out how they’re going to do it. can improve every second. being on court. If they lose focus, I’ll scream at them.”
But if the honing process is tough, so are the expectations. “The Thomas Cup is always the goal. It’s one of the biggest things you can win as a player alongside the World Championship, the Whole England team and the Olympics. This time, we have a team that can challenge the best on a good day. Satwik and Chirag were very good. All of our singles players are doing well and on a good day we can challenge with our second doubles match. Everyone knows that. Everyone knew we had a chance,” he said.
Boe’s job is to make sure the entire team has every possible advantage to make the most of that opportunity. “Everybody has a role to play. Our role as coach comes mainly in the time between games. We have to analyze the video, decide which group of players will have the best chance against the opponent. Recall for our boys what it was like playing against a likely opponent. “
Boe could have done his job a bit well. “After the semi-final against Denmark, I was called Judas (traitor),” he laughs. “But I’m just doing what I can to help my team win,” he said.
This professionalism extends to Boe’s behavior in the coach’s chair. Part of Boe’s tactics with the team was to make sure the players never knew how nervous he was. In the doubles against Indonesia, he was the most impressive in the poker face. “Before the game, I will make silly jokes to make them laugh and not be too nervous. But I was on fire from within… Pulse would have been around 160. But I’ve always felt as a player that if you look at your coach and see that he can’t sit still and can’t keep his cool static, then you panic a little. So while I was about to explode, I tried to stay calm. Tell them in simple words what the plan is. Call out the plays that I can; as to how they can serve or receive. These are the little things you can do without confusing them too much,” he said.
Boe remained calm even as Satwik and Chirag bounced around like invigorating bunnies after their victory. That’s because he has another match with MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila to prepare for the match. “I was with them in the gym. I only take the field when I see (Kidambi) Srikanth has the right point. And when he won it, we all rushed to the court,” he said.
Does he regret not being able to watch another of his pairings take to the field in the final? “I am very relieved that we do not have to play any more games. Mentally, it’s very difficult to sit on the court and be involved. I’m glad I didn’t have to go through that.”
After the win, Boe was just basking in the excitement of the moment. “The players have received a call from the Prime Minister, which is going to be huge for them. Seeing all the cricketers and movie actors celebrate was amazing. Following India’s badminton trends on India’s Twitter is incredible. It touched me a little bit even though I’m not quite an Indian,” he said.
Even as the country celebrates its victory, a wave of joy flows through Impact Arena in Bangkok. “It was completely chaotic. We took the pictures for an hour. After that, I went to the press conference room which took another hour. When I came out, the players were still taking pictures. It’s something I’m never used to. It’s the craziest country in terms of pictures. There’s always another selfie and a different profile, this guy standing here and that guy standing there. I thought my face would fall off.”
Boe hopes the Indians’ passion for badminton remains undiminished. He also hopes the players will be more motivated. “We have a wide range of tournaments including this year’s Commonwealth Games. That’s the next big goal. I hope we will see some more badminton medals for India”.
Boe herself is also committed to the badminton project. Perhaps that’s for the best. While his trajectory as a coach has skyrocketed, his planned second career has taken a bit of a hit, with his stock portfolio shrinking in recent days. due to financial problems in the US. But, at least for now, when he’s celebrating the top, Boe isn’t complaining. “I am poor, but I am happy,” he said.
