Struggling singles stars PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy disillusioned but once more as India crashed out of the BWF Sudirman Cup Finals after dropping 1-4 to formidable Indonesia in a gaggle D match right here Tuesday.
Sudirman Cup: India bow out after 1-4 defeat towards Indonesia.(HT_PRINT)
Having misplaced to Denmark 1-4 of their opening match on Sunday, India wanted to win Tuesday’s contest to remain alive within the race for the knockout stage. The defeat has rendered India’s final group match on Thursday towards England — who additionally made an exit from the event — inconsequential.
Indonesia, who had crushed England 5-0 on Sunday, and Denmark made it to the knock-out spherical after profitable two matches on the trot. Denmark prevailed over England 5-0 on Tuesday.
With solely two groups progressing from the group to the knock-out spherical, it was a must-win match for India however they have been outclassed by their extra fancied opponents. The poor type of their star singles gamers — Prannoy and Sindhu — didn’t assist the crew’s trigger.
Sindhu and Prannoy had misplaced their respective girls’s and singles matches towards Denmark additionally.
India made a profitable begin with the combined doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, who edged previous Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Gloria Emanuelle Widjala 10-21 21-18 21-19 in a gruelling match that lasted one hour and 10 minutes.
Within the girls’s singles, double Olympic medallist Sindhu, ranked 18th now, continued to battle for type, dropping 12-21 13-21 to world quantity 11 Putri Kusuma Wardani, a participant she has crushed twice earlier than, in 38 minutes.
With the tie levelled 1-1, Prannoy was up towards Jonatan Christie, and he was on the entrance foot after taking the primary sport 21-19 however the world quantity six Indonesian took management of the match after that as he received the second and third video games 21-14 21-12 towards the world quantity 30 Indian.
The ladies’s doubles pair of Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra was no match to Lanny Tria Mayasari and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, dropping 10-21 9-21 as Indonesia took an unassailable 3-1 lead within the tie.
Within the inconsequential fifth match, the inexperienced males’s doubles duo of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi gave a tricky battle to the higher-ranked Indonesians Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Daniel Marthin however misplaced 20-22 18-21 in 50-minute contest.
India’s best-ever efficiency on the Sudirman Cup has been two quarterfinal finishes in 2011 and 2017.
Whereas India has made vital progress lately — highlighted by their historic Thomas Cup win in 2022 and the Badminton Asia Girls’s Group Championships title in 2024 — the absence of key doubles pairs has dampened their prospects within the Sudirman Cup.
The Indian crew had come right here with out the highest males’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in addition to the ladies’s doubles pairing of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.
Satwik and Chirag withdrew from the event attributable to sickness whereas Treesa and Gayatri are at present injured.
Again in February, India had suffered a setback on the Badminton Asia Blended Group Championship, the place they have been eradicated within the quarterfinals, regardless of fielding a powerful squad.