Shuttlers stumble out in team quarter-final events
JAKARTA: India’s dream of winning a medal in the badminton team championship at the Asian Games went for a toss in the quarter-finals with the women losing to Japan and the men going down to Indonesia with identical 1-3 scorelines, at the GBK Istora Complex.
Despite heroics from Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy, the teams didn’t get enough support from the rest. The women, bronze medallists in the last edition at Incheon, couldn’t match the reigning Uber Cup champions and top seeds after a first-round bye. India had lost 0-5 to Japan in the Uber Cup.
Sindhu, the world No 3 and silver medallist at this year’s world championship, surprised world No 2 Akane Yamaguchi 21-18, 21-8. Her blistering smashes and perfect drop shots at the net put India ahead after 44 minutes. At 18-all in the first game, Sindhu sent down back-to-back smashes to fetch two points before executing a perfect drop aimed at Yamaguchi’s backhand.
Much was expected from Yamaguchi in the second game but Sindhu didn’t let the momentum slip. As Sindhu’s smashes landed, Yamaguchi made a slew of unforced errors. Sindhu raced ahead 15-5 and from then on, there was no looking back.
The win was a perfect plat- form for others to capitalise on but the duo of N Sikki Reddy and Sunil Arathi Sara folded up against Yuki Fukushima-sayaka Hirota 6-21, 15-21 to allow Japan restore parity after the first doubles tie. An ageing Saina Nehwal, the 2012 London Olympics bronze medal winner who is now ranked world No 10, then tried her best to lift team’s morale in the second singles but found world No 8 Nozomi Okuhara a tough nut to crack.