Indian Badminton Thread ...

[sameerph]

Wins for Sindhu and SatChi too. Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy got a walkover in mixed doubles while Tresa-Gayatri gave a walkover in womens doubles.

So, India has 1 representative each in 4 Categories

MS - Prannoy H S
MD - Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty
WS - Pusarla Venkata Sindhu
XD - Rohan Kapoor/Sikki Reddy

[rajitghosh]

Any idea why Treesa-Gayathri gave a walkover? Is one of them injured?

[Saffron Lenin]

Any idea why Treesa-Gayathri gave a walkover? Is one of them injured?

Badminton Asia Championships: Rohan-Sikki advance to quarterfinals, Treesa-Gayatri withdraw due to injury

https://www.insidesport.in/badminton-as ... to-injury/

[rajitghosh]

Only SatChi won. Theirs was a fantastic win against the fancied Indonesian pair of Ehsan and Satiawan. All the rest lost. Prannoy retired. Hope it is not a serious injury. Sindhu did win the 1st game but got thrashed in the next 2 by An Se Yooung. These youngsters like Chen Yufei and An Se Yooung are too fast for her.

[Saffron Lenin]

Sat chi reaches the Final

[rajitghosh]

Their opponents retired after one of them got injured. This is a great achievement. In men's doubles India has won only one medal in the past. In 1971 my friend's father Dipu Ghosh and his uncle Romen Ghosh had won a bronze. Though in an Asian Invitational Championship in 1978 Prakash Padukone and Syed Modi had.won a silver.

[sameerph]

Great week so far for SatChi as they beat the great Daddies in the QF and now the olympic champions in the SF.

World #6 SatChi meet #8 Malyasian pair of Ong and Teo in the final tomorrow aiming to become first Indian doubles pair to win an Asian title. They are 3-3 in head to head. So, it will be a close one.

[rajitghosh]

SatChi pull off a Houdini Act to win the Asian Championship. They lost the 1st game and were 8-13 down in the 2nd and it looked all over. They came back to win the 2nd game only to go 10-14 down in the 3rs. After that they played incredibly to win. This surely has to go down as one of India's greatest achievements in badminton. Then only Indian to have the Asian Championship before this was Dinesh Khanna in the 2nd edition in 1965 in Lucknow. But in those days the level of competition was far lower with no Chinese.
Matthias Boe has done great work as a coach. On a lighter note I think Indian doubles must thank Tapsee Pannu. If she hadn't fallen in love with Boe and had he not stayed back in India I doubt doubles could have scaled these great heights.
Now looking forward to an Olympic medal from them. All they need to do is stay injury free and cut down on unforced errors. The world lies at their feet. Truly Indian Express II albeit in a different sport.
Of course this was practically a home match with the big Indian expat contingent in Dubai baying for blood.

[sameerph]

Great to see Satwik-Chirag become Asian champions. This pair is taking bigger and bigger steps in last year or two. They started winning titles at BWF tournaments, won a medal at world chammpioships last year and now this tile at Asian championships.

Now a medal at Asian games later this year and than Paris olympics next year. Go guys.

[jayakris]

Truly Indian Express II albeit in a different sport.

This sounds right. They show a lot of the traits that tennis' Indian Express had. Just the ability to raise their game a bit on the bigger stage, and not shying away from being pioneers. Hope they go past the original one, when it comes to getting an Olympics medal.

[rajitghosh]

The Olympics qualification cycle for badminton begins from today. The points earned in tournaments over the next 12 months will determine who qualifies. So the next few tournaments become very important. I expect lesser withdrawals from here on as all the players would try to maximize points.

[sameerph]

Yes, olympic qualification cycle starts from today but first real tournament for this is Sudirman cup ( mixed team event) in 2 weeks time starting from May 15 to be held in Suzhou, China. Is it the first international tournament to be held in China post covid ?

With our mens and womens doubles teams now strong, we may have an outside chance for a medal at Sudirman cup.

[rajitghosh]

Unfortunately in the Sudirman Cup India is in the group of death with Malaysia and Chinese Taipei. In all the other groups there are 2 teams who are sure to qualify for the quarter finals.

[sameerph]

Chinese Taipei seems beatable. In terms of rankings, we are better than them in mens doubles and womens doubles and only slightly lower in mens singles and mixed doubles. Only in womens singles, Tai seems to have clear edge over Sindhu.

[Sin Hombre]

Satwik Chirag go back to #5 in the world - hopefully they break into the top 3 soon. At this point of time, they are our best Olympic medal prospects in badminton.

I do think Sindhu will force herself back into the top 8 by the Olympics and you should never write her off if she is seeded.

Small hopes that Treesa and Gayatri continue their rapid progression and are a top-10 pair by Paris.