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Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Sudirman Cup: No wins for PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy as India's singles concerns grow, but doubles give hope
India is yet to register a win from the four singles matches they have played at the Sudirman Cup in Xiamen, China. But with wins in women's doubles (against Denmark), mixed doubles (against Indonesia), both starring Tanisha Crasto, and serious potential shown in men's doubles by Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi against Indonesia's Top 10 pair, the state of Indian badminton is evident: a complete rout in singles, with problems running deep, and exciting unheralded times for doubles, where hopes can be pinned on. The 4-1 drubbing by Indonesia, to send India out of quarterfinal contention, can be dissected in many ways, but will uniformly reveal that Indian singles has fallen off the elite perch. PV Sindhu, who is struggling at World No 18, lost to Putri Kusuma Wardani, currently World No 11, with a 21-12, 21-13 scoreline. Her fortunes on a downward spiral, Sindhu's game has simply not kept pace with all her coaching changes. No coach has managed to counter-balance her diminishing power game – inability to get the smash-kills, with changes in tactics. Random bursts of speed where she tries trapping any and every opponent on their backhand front court lunge, with drops, are an overused trick and unlikely to work against any Top 20 opponent. A serious confidence crisis underpins Sindhu's game – she's tentative at the net, wrong-footed often, brittle in body defense and prone to smashing wide going for the lines. None of these, save the spraying smashes, are new discoveries for opponents. But for a long time now, Sindhu has been reluctant to play those two extra shots in a rally, and hurriedly tries to wrap up a point, even when the execution isn't sharp enough. Her confidence has always hinged on endurance – but she's perennially trying to accelerate while running on a forever-state of emergency fuel. The resultant creaky, croaking, cranky sudden stops, are not a pretty sight. Against Wardani, Sindhu went from 6-14 to 11-14 in the opener, her only resistance. But it was 38 minutes of watching a giant crumble. It was decisive because India had gone 1-0 up after mixed doubles with Tanisha and Dhruv pulling off a near-perfect heist, defeating Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Gloria Emanuele Widjaja, 10-21, 21-18, 21-19. The clouds came later, so this was no silver lining, technically. What Tanisha-Dhruv managed was a dazzling ray of hope, given how difficult Indonesians are in team events. When they lose, Tanisha's aggressive game, a lot of yelling sound and accompanying fury, can seem overdone. But it is her energy and hustle on the court – mistakes inevitable – that literally pulled Dhruv out of his knotted shell. India 🇮🇳 looks to unsettle Indonesia 🇮🇩 for a group D position. #SudirmanCupFinals #Xiamen2025 — BWF (@bwfmedia) April 29, 2025 When the opener was gone 21-10, not many would've given the Indians a chance. But Tanisha was relentless in trying and threatening ambushes, always scheming up angles that could evade the long-armed Widjaja. Not unlike Treesa Jolly or Gayatri Gopichand, Tanisha is armed with an attack, but can surprise with deft racquetwork which she uses for clever lifts and criss-cross scythes. Dhruv took his time, but once his defense settled down, he was bursting with ideas too. What India's doubles pairings have been consistently good at this last year, is in staying adamant in long rallies, with shored-up defenses. Knowing they might need to play those two shots extra, and biding their time to construct rallies, setting up points, Tanisha-Dhruv stayed put. Around the 15-point mark in the second set the Indians hit a higher gear and pushed a decider with increased intensity on the endgame. It was on 12-15 down in the decider that Tanisha once more cranked up the hustle. Getting to 14-15 will remain memorable. A long rally ensued, testing the Indian defense, and Tanisha was a spinning top on the court, with loud instructions to Dhruv, as it crossed the 30-shot mark. Tanisha then played the deftest of stop-drops, turning the racquet-face, completely boggling the Indonesians who had retreated to the back court waiting for the smash. It might be the stellar singular moment of redemption for India's Sudirman Cup, as the Indonesians never recovered from that point. Dhruv took over the steering with his cross-court short swats as he bounced around, placing winners, which meant India stomped to 5 straight points, going from 16-19 to 21-19. The ability to finish is well and alive in doubles. It has vamoozed in singles. HS Prannoy, facing Jonatan Christie, did most things right, except finishing, in the 21-19, 14-21, 12-21 loss. He had the gameplan pat, and actually looked in good nick, fit and furious, nailing the back-bending smashes. But he faded off against an opponent who can sustain a fight deep and long. Lakshya Sen, in the coach's bench, seemed to be struggling with a stiff back, but Prannoy playing Christie after 3 long years, where both have peaked and then dropped off, seems to have shrugged off all the various niggles and illnesses that tend to hold him back. He might have lost his 7th match to Christie, but he had done well to take this to 3 after losing in straight sets the last few times. The 32-year-old looked like he was building up nicely for the South East Asia swing that will follow. But as far as pulling the team out of trouble goes, his loss was yet another letdown by the singles players. India lost the tie when Priya Konjengbam- Shruti Mishra lost 21-10, 21-9. But there was an unexpected surprise when Hariharan and Ruban – absolute rookies – went toe-to-toe with the Indonesians Daniel Marthin and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri; 17-17 in the first and 15-15 in the second set, pointed to immense potential as their flat game with buzzing speed gives India an excellent option. They went down 22-20, 21-18 but it was 50 minutes teeming with possibilities of a hopeful tomorrow for Indian badminton.
Indian Express
26-04-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Sudirman Cup 2025: Depleted India hope PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen lead from the front in tricky group
In many ways, the build-up to the biggest team event of the year in badminton has largely matched the nature of India's results on tour: subdued. Given the famous men's team's Thomas Cup triumph back in 2022, and to a smaller extent, the women's team winning the Asia Team Championships in 2024, there have been expectations around team events – that India can go toe-to-toe with the world's best when it comes to these marquee tournaments that usually display a country's badminton depth. On paper, with a fully fit squad, India would have fancied their chances of doing well at the Sudirman Cup Finals this year, primarily because of the improved results in the three doubles disciplines in the recent past. While form has been patchy lately, on their day Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, and Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand would have been able to challenge most pairs in the world. But the former world No 1 men's doubles duo – SatChi – as well as the country's only entries in the top 10 across disciplines – TreGa – are not in the squad for the tournament, starting in Xiamen on Sunday. The Indian Express understands both Treesa and Gayatri are carrying some sort of niggles, so even fielding one of them in a scratch women's doubles pairing wasn't an option. The same with Satwik and Chirag, with the former recovering from an illness while the latter has been having issues with his lower back, which led to their early withdrawal from the prestigious All England Open last month. No other tournament tests the depth of the badminton talent pool like the Sudirman Cup Finals. The 2025 edition of the biennial World Mixed Team Championships will see the top 16 teams who qualified for the tournament through continental events and world rankings compete for the coveted title – and perhaps eventually come to a familiar realisation that nobody does this better than China. The badminton powerhouses, who have sometimes been overcome in the recent past in the men's and women's World Team events (Thomas and Uber Cup finals) are once again the supreme favourites for the mixed team event, because of their enviable talent across all five disciplines. RELATED | Sudirman Cup 2025: India's squad led by PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen, schedule, opponents and where to watch For India, the challengers in Group D are the second seeds, Indonesia and European powerhouses, Denmark. England are the fourth team in the group, out of which only the top two will make it through to the quarterfinals, a hurdle that already seems daunting. The onus falls on Lakshya Sen, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy to steer India through a hugely tricky group. The lack of men's doubles depth is particularly jarring as below SatChi, the next best option is world No 41 Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi, with no backup named. But it is a golden opportunity for the youngsters to test the waters at this level. Shruti Mishra and Priya Konjengbam are a bit more experienced in women's doubles, but India might be tempted to play Tanisha Crasto in a scratch pairing if required. Something similar could be tried with Dhruv Kapila for men's doubles too, as funky combinations are commonplace in such events. The silver lining on India's otherwise dismal start to the BWF World Tour in 2025 has been the steady rise of Tanisha's mixed doubles partnership with Dhruv. Now up to world No 17, they were India's last standing contenders at the Asia Championships this month in Ningbo and have been building their levels up steadily. Two singles wins, plus an upset or two in mixed doubles, would be India's potential pathway to three wins out of the five matches in a tie. ALSO READ | All England Open: For Satwik-Chirag, a doubles bond, for the good times and bad – 'He was there for me' It is worth noting that Indonesia and Denmark are not at their strongest either, but still boast better depth across disciplines. Anthony Ginting has been out of action for a while, and Indonesia recently lost Paris Olympics medallist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung as well. But with Jonatan Christie leading the charge, and an abundance of talent in doubles disciplines, they start as outright favourites in the group. This means India have a must-win, unofficial knockout match as early as Day 1. Sindhu, Lakshya and Co must simply beat Denmark to stay in contention. Former Danish coach and commentator Steen Pedersen predicts a close one. 'Denmark travel to Xiamen without Viktor Axelsen, Rasmus Gemke, Frederik Sogaard and Mia Blichfeldt. WD of Thygesen/Fruergaard is retired and Astrup/Rasmussen has looked off form since Rasmussen's injury. Uphill task for Danes as the first match vs India looks like a thriller,' Pedersen wrote on X. If Sindhu can hold her end of the bargain, and whoever is selected for men's singles can pull off an upset against Anders Antonsen, it could get interesting. But beyond their chances of progressing through to the knockouts, this tournament gives an opportunity to the Indian contingent to find a spark or two in what has been a disappointing year so far. You never know, these team events tend to sometimes bring out something extra in players. An atmosphere that they don't otherwise find themselves in on the tour. India's squad: India's Group D schedule: (all ties start at 2.30 pm IST)
Indian Express
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Badminton: Satwik-Chirag ruled out of Sudirman Cup 2025
Indian men's doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been ruled out of the upcoming Sudirman Cup Finals scheduled from 27th April in Xiamen, China. As per the latest social media update by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Instagram, the duo has been ruled out of the World Mixed Team Championships event due to sickness. The world number 11 pair has been troubled with injuries since the last season, and despite starting the season with two semi-final finishes at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 and India Open Super 750, the pair are having an inconsistent season by their recent standards on the tour. Satwik/Chirag pulling out means that India will be left with the duo of Hariharan Amsakarunana and Ruban Kumar R in the men's doubles section from the original squad. There is no official word on replacements. Earlier, top Indian women's doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also pulled out due to injuries, putting the responsibility on the young shoulders of Shruti Mishra and Priya Konjengbam. Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, and double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will lead India's charge in the tournament. India, placed in Group D, will face a challenging first round with ties against former champions Indonesia, two-time runners-up Denmark, and a strong England side. India qualified for this tournament based on world rankings and will be eager to secure a spot in the knockouts of the Sudirman Cup 2025 from this tough group. India squad for Sudirman Cup
