At the Asian Games team matches in women matches India is lucky to have only Mongolia to play before entering quarterfinals where lost out to Thailand. Team leader PV Sindhu is so out of form that one cannot bet on her to give India a lead or take out crucial matches and on expected lines she fell to Pornpawee Chochuwong. Her journey this year has been terrible, to say the least.
Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly and Ashmita Chaliha also lost their respective matches as Indian women’s team were knocked out in the Quarterfinal stages.
Out of 18 tournaments Sindhu has played in 2023 before the Asian Games, 8 of them saw her lose in the first round. Her best performance was two semifinals slots and just one appearance in finals.
The show was so mediocre that in one of her losses she could not make double digits also and crashed out 8-21, 8-21 The irony here was that Sindhu had defeated the same player Gfegoria Mariska Tunjun of Indonesia 8 times in the past. She has changed coaches 4 times but to no avail. She even had a stint under legendary Prakash Padukone requesting him to bail her out.
In Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliya and Anupama Upadhaya, India has got players who have had good exposure but have not been able to get past any big names.
How they will perform in tight situations is anyone’s guess. In doubles, Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly we have one exciting pair who can defeat anyone in the world. Their matches will be watched with interest. The second pair of veteran Ashwini Ponappa and youngster Tanisha Crasto will have problems against big names.
Indian men with the Thomas cup winning team of 2022, are going to have it so easy that it is like a holiday stroll for the players. After getting a bye in the first round we have winners of the Nepal–Mongolia match to play against.
In quarterfinals we are playing against the winners of a very strong triangle between South Korea Indonesia and Malaysia, who are bundled up in the top quarters of the draw.
Whether India can bring up the magic of the Tomas cup remains to be seen. But it will be a huge slugfest whichever way you look at it. A real acidic test for Lakshya, Kidambi, Prannoy, Saisatwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
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