Injured HS Prannoy’s absence harm India as they went down preventing 2-3 in opposition to badminton powerhouse China to log off with their first-ever silver medal within the males’s workforce championships on the Asian Video games right here on Sunday.
After world No. 7 Prannoy was dominated out because of a again damage, Lakshya Sen produced a gutsy present within the first singles and doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then bossed over their opponents to place India 2-0 forward.
So, it was as soon as once more left to Srikanth to hold the workforce on his shoulders.
The previous world No. 1, who had produced a gritty present in opposition to South Korea within the semifinals, could not go the space this time regardless of a wholesome lead and a number of recreation factors as China fought again to make it 1-2.
The defending champions then gained the remaining two matches to take care of their hegemony within the Asian Video games.
With Prannoy lacking the summit conflict because of a again damage, Sen was handed the duty of main the Indian cost.
Sen recovered from a mid-game stoop to erase a five-point deficit within the decider and put India forward with a 22-20 14-21 21-18 win over world No. 6 Shi Yuqi in an 83-minute opening slugfest.
World No. 3 males’s doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag then went on a smashing spree to outclass world No 2. Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 21-15 21-18 in 55 minutes to increase the result in 2-0.
Srikanth, nevertheless, squandered an 18-14 lead and a number of recreation factors within the first recreation to go down 22-24 9-21 in opposition to All England champion Li Shifeng within the third singles to reveal India’s weakest hyperlink — the second doubles and third singles matches.
Scratch pair of Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek Krishna Prasad then misplaced 6-21 15-21 to world No. 8 Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi, whereas Prannoy’s substitute Mithun Manjunath, ranked 53, went down 12-21 4-21 in opposition to world No. 20 Weng Hong Yang within the third singles as India completed second finest.
Regardless of the loss, it’s a creditable efficiency from the Indian workforce because it sealed India’s second silver medal in badminton on the continental championships with two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu successful the primary in ladies’s singles within the 2018 version.
The final time the Indian males gained a badminton medal within the workforce championships was on the 1986 version in Seoul the place Sen’s mentors Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar performed an important position.
India now has 11 badminton medals within the Asian Video games, together with three particular person singles medals, one silver and three bronze within the males’s workforce, two ladies’s workforce bronze and one medal every in males’s doubles and blended doubles.
