Asian Games 2018 : India’s Campaign In Badminton Ends

India’s hopes of winning a medal in badminton team events at the 18th Asian Games went up in smoke after both the men’s and women’s sides bowed out of the competition following an identical 1-3 loss in the quarterfinals here on Monday.

P V Sindhu and H S Prannoy shone bright but India couldn’t get enough support from the rest of the shuttlers as they lost to Japan and Indonesia in the women’s and men’s team events respectively.

After the women’s team went down 1-3 to top seeds Japan earlier in the day, the men’s team put up a spirited effort before losing 1-3 to hosts Indonesia.

The onus was on world no 8 Kidambi Srikanth to give India an early lead but he lost 21-23, 22-20, 10-21 to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, ranked 12th, to concede a 0-1 lead to Indonesia.

World No 11 Prannoy then brought some cheers back in the Indian camp by reducing the deficit with a 21-15, 19-21, 21-19 win over Jonathan Christie in the third match.

But national champions Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy lost 14-21, 18-21 to world no 9 Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto as the men’s team crashed out of the contest.

Earlier in the day, the Indian women’s team, which won a historic bronze in the last edition in Incheon, also lost in the quarterfinals to top seeds Japan.

It was always going to be a close affair between Sindhu and world no 2 Akane Yamaguchi but the Indian prevailed in the tight opening singles encounter 21-18, 21-19.

Sindhu, who took 41 minutes to put India ahead, had also beaten Yamaguchi at the recent World Championship on way to the final.

In the crucial second women’s singles, Saina Nehwal made a dramatic comeback from nowhere and saved four match points in the second game to take the match into the decider, but she eventually lost 11-21, 25-23, 16-21 after battling for one hour and 11 minutes against Nozomi Okuhara.

Saina initially struggled to contain her unforced errors while Okuhara was disciplined. The Indian hit almost everything either over the line or on to the net but made a stunning comeback in the second game.