A defeat against Indonesia means India have been handed a massive challenge next in the quarterfinals: to try and defeat China in China in the most prestigious team event.
A few wands to swish ‘n trick in a win. A few wounds to lick after a loss. It’s the best mix of mindsets for India’s Thomas Cup team, before they run into China for a straight knockout on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
India’s last group game against Indonesia, a rematch of the 2022 title final, ended as a 4-1 defeat for the defending champions on Wednesday. While ‘Thomas Cup defending champions India’ still draws a few disbelieving double takes – so surreal was the world title two summers ago – life has moved on to throw a massive challenge in the form of host team China in Chengdu next up in the quarterfinals. India had to draw the toughest one to play within 24 hours of the Indonesia reverse, with the other possibilities being Japan and Denmark.
Yet, HS Prannoy’s singular win on Wednesday, and Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty’s close losses in three sets, could be the perfect fuel to fire themselves up ahead of the massive faceoff. Prannoy can dip into the confidence, and the other three can repackage their pricked pride after their respective losses into a point to prove.
India lost the Asian Games team gold 3-2 to China in Hangzhou, and that’s another score to settle. But for India’s golden generation, things don’t get bigger than taking on China in China for the most prestigious team title.
The 31-year-old Prannoy would start slowly, falling back 4-13, before getting a hang of drift conditions and assessing length judgments that’s so crucial to his game. It’s in the manner of how he plotted the comeback in the second set after trailing 21-12 that showed his class as a top player. When Prannoy’s defense kicks in, and he’s parrying off body shots, a switch is about to be flicked.
Ginting got even faster than usual, trying to crowd Prannoy at the start of first. But Prannoy would aggressively counter by uprooting the Indonesian from midcourt from where he was sending bazookas. Adopting an aggressive approach, Prannoy would charge the net, and defang Ginting’s speed with power game from up close to push and pin him into a retreat.
He devised excellent lifts – deep and high – from unbalanced positions and he had truly hit his stride when he made Ginting twist and turn with pinpoint shots along both flanks. Prannoy’s wide repertoire of strokes was summoned to rush the speediest runner on the circuit. But it was that exquisite skill of accurately understanding how the shuttle moves in the drift that helped him go for the backline.
Prannoy’s self-awareness
Earlier, Prannoy had made himself look ominous at the net with a few pointed sharp winners. What this did was leave Ginting with no choice but to try and push him back. But the Indonesian kept over-shooting as the shuttle went long, while the Indian had great control over the lofted shots of his own. Prannoy broke away at 8-8 in the second set, and 7-7 in the third, and never allowed Ginting an entry back into the contest.
Prannoy would later tell BWF about how he approaches these comebacks from a set down. “Somebody like Ginting will come hard. So you just hang in there. He was really quick at the start. These conditions suit him. But I have to trust my game and believe it will work. I had to be patient in the second half where I couldn’t give him any chance to run through me. Focus was on second game. I knew third game would be a dogfight. I always have an edge in third game because of strategy I use and trust,” he explained.
Prannoy’s self-awareness has ensured he prepares adequately for opponents with faster feet. “To be honest, age is catching up. And first set is always starting trouble. Takes time to get used to the pace of these kind of players. In men’s singles average age of top players is 23, 2. And someone like 31, 32 will struggle a bit with speed initially. Only thing I can do is use all my experience over the years, against all the players I’ve played. And keep pushing that those kind of strategies will work. No other choice but to trust strategy at this level,” he added after winning 13-21, 21-12, 21-12.
It has helped him beat Viktor Axelsen at World Championships for a hard-earned medal. And it’s what he will need to summon against China’s best, Shi Yuqi. China didn’t play on Wednesday and will enjoy a better turnaround time for recovery. But Prannoy knows he will have to beat the best names, to take India forward.
India’s chances will heavily hinge on Lakshya Sen, who will need to hit the groove faster against possibly Li Shifeng, after he came close to beating Jonatan Christie but was shabby at the finish, losing 21-18, 16-21, 21-17.
An unusually pumped-up Christie played aggressively in pushing Sen away from the net early on, but the Indian bounced from being 8-16 down to level 18-all in the opener. He would take charge of the net once he found his length, and then dip into overhead deceptions with half smashes to trouble Christie.
But in both sets he lost, Sen couldn’t close out against the All England champion and was in disarray as the Indonesian broke away. Rallies got punishing as Christie employed the high tosses, and eventually kept Sen tangled in defense and dazed with a hazy endgame plan. While Satwik-Chirag and Kidambi Srikanth / Priyanshu Rajawat might need to get the tricky wins, Lakshya Sen will be the pivot in the third match of the China tie. India will bank of its Paris-bound Four to take the attack to China on Thursday.
Heartbreak for Satwik-Chirag
Vinayakk Mohanarangan adds: Not one, not two, not even 10… Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty saved as many as 12 match points against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri – Bagas Maulana in the Thomas Cup group-stage clash against Indonesia. Eventually, it was unlucky 13 for the Indians as their recent nemesis prevailed –now a fourth win in their last five meetings.
Satwik-Chirag were a game and 14-20 down. At that point, it seemed as if the match was as good as over. But on Satwik’s serve, the Indians started to claw their way back. They have done this before, just earlier this year. But those were not match points, but game points at the Malaysia Open. But here, every one of those points were potential match-enders. But the Indians reeled off 6 straight points, targeting mostly Maulana. Then from 20-20, they saved two more to force a decider.
In Game 3, they trailed 15-20. Surely not again? Once again on Satwik’s serve, they got to 19-20. But what could have been the greatest heist in Indian badminton history fell just short when Fikri, fittingly, closed it out.
Source:indianexpress.com