Thomas & Uber Cup: China end India men's title reign in quarters; Japan knock women's team out

It was a disappointing day at the office for Indian badminton with men’s and the women’s teams getting suffering quarter-final exits in the Thomas and Uber Cup in Chengdu, China on Thursday.

Ashmita Chaliha produced a spirited fight before the young and inexperienced Indian women’s team suffered a 0-3 loss to Japan in the Uber Cup quarters. India had exited the Uber Cup competition in the last-eight in 2022 as well. Their best performance in the competition remains a semi-final finish: in 1957, 2014 and 2016.

Later in the day, the men’s team failed to defend their Thomas Cup title as they suffered a 1-3 defeat at the hands of badminton powerhouse China to bow out in the last-eight stage of the prestigious tournament.

While Lakshya Sen was the only Indian from either the men’s or the women’s teams to emerge triumphant on Thursday. However, world No 9 HS Prannoy, world No 3 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek K failed to go the distance as India’s reign as Thomas Cup champions came to a screeching halt two years after winning their maiden title in Bangkok.

It was a rematch of the 2023 Asian Games team final which India lost 2-3 to sign off with a maiden silver.

The Indian team had ended their group stage at the second spot after losing 1-4 to Indonesia late on Wednesday, while the Chinese had an off day and the hosts seemed to be in better shape as they ticked all the boxes to come up trumps once again at the big stage.

A roaring start ended with a dampener for Prannoy as his spirited fight concluded with a 21-15 11-21 14-21 loss against world No 2 Shi Yu Qi in a 66-minute clash which gave China a 1-0 lead.

“I don’t know but surely I think China had one day off and they came in (the contest) much more fresher. It makes a big difference in the third game. Unfortunate to kind of play today,” said Prannoy after the loss.

“I will say that we had a very long night and by the time we slept it was 1.32 (am) and to kind of get back to the energy levels I think is definitely less,” he added.

“Everybody was very disappointed last night (after the loss to Indonesia), but to come out and play such a big match against the home crowd in less than 13 to 14 hours is a big task mentally out there because you just lost out with a big opponent like Indonesia,” said Prannoy.

End of our #ThomasCup campaign. Result not in our favour but proud of each every member of the team for putting efforts on and off the court throughout the competition. Proud of you boys!

📸: @badmintonphoto#ThomasUberCupFinals#TeamIndia#Badminton pic.twitter.com/9qn2AiPrVB

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) May 2, 2024

For the second successive day, Satwik and Chirag had to walk back without logging a point for India after they were outmanoeuvred 15-21 21-11 12-21 by the world No. 1 pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang as the visitors slipped to 0-2.

All eyes were on Sen to keep India afloat, given his 6-3 head-to-head count against Li Shi Feng, and the 22-year-old from Almora lived up to the expectations, seeing off the world No. 6 13-21 21-8 21-14 to pull one back.

However, Dhruv and Sai went down 10-21 10-21 to world No. 11 pair of Ren Xiang Yu and He Ji Ting to put paid to India’s hopes.

Prannoy vs Shi Yu Qi

Handling the drift was a big task and in the end, Shi Yu Qi showed better control and deception to prevail in the 66-minute clash.

Prannoy made a sensational start to the match, opening up an 8-2 lead and kept Shi Yu Qi under pressure to eventually grab six game points with a smash. The Indian wasted one before sealing the opening game with a perfect net shot.

Shi Yu Qi looked in complete command in the second game as rode on his deceptions to take an 11-4 lead at the break. Lagging 6-12, Prannoy was called for ‘obstruction’ when he held up his racquet near the net during an exchange.

It was mostly a one-way traffic as the Chinese made a roaring return after Prannoy faltered with a net stroke.

The duo engaged in some excruciating rallies, using their array of strokes to outwit each other. The duo moved 5-5 before a couple of lucky net chords and supremacy at the net saw the Chinese gain a 11-8 cushion at the interval.

The Chinese made Prannoy twist and turn with his returns, constructing the rallies well to move to 16-11. A long rally ensued next with Shi Yu Qi sealing it with another sharp cross court.

Shi Yu Qi moved to 19-13 after sending one at the forehand corner and then grabbed seven match points with another precise angled shot. He raised his hands when Prannoy made a wrong judgement call.

Sindhu-less women’s team punches above its weight

A squad without senior players such as PV Sindhu had punched above its weight with wins over Canada and Singapore before getting a reality check by China (0-5) in the group stage. On Thursday, India fought hard against multiple-time winners Japan with Chaliha and Isharani Baruah fighting in their singles matches.

While world no. 53 Chaliha showed once again that she has the ability to trouble top players during her narrow 10-21, 22-20, 15-21 loss to World No. 11 Aya Ohori in a 67-minute contest.

Isharani, 20, ranked 83, was up 14-11 and 9-7 in the first and second games before losing 15-21, 12-21 to 2017 World Championships and former World No. 1 Nozomi Okuhara.

In between, national champions Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Misra succumbed to a 8-21, 9-21 loss to World No. 4 Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida.

The opening singles match was a battle between two left handers and it turned out to be a close affair as Chaliha upped her game.

After losing the opening game, Chaliha made a superb comeback when she kept up her attacking game on Ohori and kept snapping at the heels of her opponent from 4-4 to 18-18.

Chaliha made a judgement error at the backline to concede a match point but saved it with a leaping smash and then took a game point when Ohori hit the net.

Another precise return at the backhand corner of Ohori helped Chaliha to stay alive in the match.

In the decider, Chaliha looked in full flow as he opened up a 8-3 lead but Ohori started to find her mark as she set up the points with her precise angled returns and clawed back at 9-9.

The Indian grabbed a two-point lead at the break but she couldn’t sustain the pressure as Ohori clawed back at 12-12 with a straight down the line smash and then moved to a 15-13 lead.

It was a Ohori show thereafter as she grabbed five match points before sealing the 67-minute match when Chaliha erred with her forehand smash.

“The first game could have been better, the court conditions didn’t suit me. I played her in Syed Modi but I wasn’t good, so today I wanted to give my best. Third set I could have been better after the 11 points, I made silly errors,” Chaliha said.

“In the second game, I managed to play on her backhand side. She is a lefty like me, so I got confused initially. With my attacks, I got more points. Overall, I am happy with the way I played. It was a great experience.”

(with inputs from PTI)