Indian mixed doubles has been stuck in promising potential and underwhelming performance for a long time now. Jwala Gutta and V Diju were bonafide Top 8 materials, but India’s last Super Series breakthrough came in 2011 and there was just a lot of mix and match, trial and error ever since.

Japan Open Super Series semifinals

With a 21-18, 9-21, 21-19 win over Korean fresh pairing Seung Jae Seo and Kim Na Ha, Sikki Reddy-Pranav Chopra have heaved themselves to the highest step Jwala-Diju climbed on the circuit — the semifinals.

Prevailing in the battle of the two left-right combines, the Indian World No 19s overturned a clutch of botched up finishes this year, with a flurry of four straight points at the end to reach their maiden Super Series semifinals in Tokyo.

“We have been losing in the last set even after leading. Today we changed how we approach the finish — coach Tan told us just focus on first 5 shots of a rally — serve and receive without errors — from 16 onwards. We stayed calm and followed the strategy,” said Chopra, known as Jerry, a nickname he chosen as his middle name.

Sikki recalls the ‘blank-outs’ at the clutch points, this year that have cost India’s top mixed pairing the wins and headlines. “At the World Championship, we were leading in decider and just played mindlessly — blank,” she remembers of an inexplicable series of errors at Glasgow that saw them fall in a pool of rubbish mistakes. “I realised we were not talking to each other, just allowing things to drift,” Sikki recalls.

Badminton Asia Championships

The pairing’s nearest miss had at the Badminton Asia Championships in April against Chinese top ranked Zheng Siwei — Chen Qingchen 21-15, 14-21, 21-16 after leading at 16. “It was frustrating because we were just not understanding how to get those last points,” Sikki would say.

Getting the leads was heady, the fall was swifter.

On Friday at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, on a day that saw all of India’s singles fallen — Jerry-Sikki would first show nerves to win the opener 21-18. Against the left handed Seung, the younger boy of the pairing known for his southpaw variations and Kim the right handed former World No.1 woman known for her soft strokes, the Indians needed first to defend doggedly in the first five shots of the rally.

In the second, the Indians made a mess trying to collect points in a hurry and looked like returning to oblivion when they ceded a 11-9 advantage in the decider to 5 straight mistakes. “At that stage, I decided to talk to Jerry and plan our response,” Sikki said of a meticulous serve-return-third stroke-attack PoA, even while playing it safe.

“Gopi sir told me that earlier we used to just be happy about getting the shuttle back. Today we finished as well. That was the difference,” she added.

Japanese pair Takuro Hoki — Sayaka Hirota

The Indians would rattle off the last four points commandingly with Jerry booming in attack to finally get past a Super Serirs Friday. “Since Tan paired us together and asked me to focus on mixed, we had been working hard but not getting the results. Today it clicked,” he said, before getting down to video analysis of the Japanese pair Takuro Hoki — Sayaka Hirota whom they’ve never played before.

It’s been a rough ride, with both players needing plenty of patching up of their respective bodies from injuries. Sikki has had four surgeries on a knee — first to cure the knee not bending, an ACL and a couple of more to deal with a meniscus tear and cartilage repaired. Jerry has gone through the shoulder grind as well as faced lower back trouble earlier in the season.

Coach Tan had immediately seen the merit in marrying Sikki’s left handed forehand deception with Jerry’s workman like big kill right handed forehand, but the duo has worked on running and agility and lasting longer sessions this year.

“But most importantly, my mental strength aspects,” Jerry says. “At 16-all, we focus on first five strokes, build pressure to crack opponents and get advantage,” he repeated. Now to apply it against the big teams in Tokyo.