Whichever way you look at it, the Indian campaign in the Sudirman Cup 2023, was a disaster. We lost 1-4 to Chinese Taipei and worse, 0-5 to Malaysia.
And this time SaiSatwick RangiReddy and Chirag Shetty also must share the blame for a lacklustre match against Aaron Chia/Soh Yooi Yik of Malaysia.
India lost 18-21/19-21, incidentally, this was the 8th consecutive loss to the Malaysian world number one duo.
We have seen much better and more polished performances from our pair. But they looked jaded and did not come up with any strong patches of play. A day before, against Chinese Taipei the Indian pair lost to Lee Yang and Huang Wei 13-21/21-17/18-21.
Leroy D’sa, a legendary doubles specialist, international medal winner and 7 Times National champion, and one who follows our doubles performances keenly said, “I am really dissatisfied and disappointed at the way our boys played. There was no thinking on their part. No clarity. Where were the counters, the volatile attack which humbled so many? They were supposed to lead the team. Also, no consistency on behalf of the team think tank."
The mixed doubles pair of Sai Praneeth and Tanisha Crasto did very well to play a three-setter against Yang Po and Ling Fang 19-21/15-21/6-15. But against Malaysia, the mixed doubles pair was changed. Dhruv Kapila and Ashwini Ponnappa lost to their opponents 16-21/17-21. What was the need to change the pair?
But I must say that the women’s doubles pair of Teressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand have impressed me a lot. They are learning the nuances of doubles really well. As for Sindhu, I am also not happy with the way she has been playing of late. India really needs her to fire on all cylinders."
Former world champion Sindhu looked well settled in her match against her constant nemesis Tai Tzu of Chinese Taipei. She lost to Tai for the 18th time. But Sindhu was her old self in the match playing attacking shots and keeping Tai at bay.
But when it mattered most Sindhu was found lacking. Tai won but had to battle hard to register a 21-14/18-21/21-18 scoreline. This is the best showing from the Indian player in almost a year. But for how long will this form last is anybody’s guess.
Yet again she faltered in the very next battle which was against Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia, who she had defeated on all the four occasions that they had played. Sindhu won the first game but lost the next two 10-21/20-22 with a Matchpoint service at 20-19.
After this crucial match, she told the press “I should have won this match. It is really disappointing. I gave her far too good a lead and I had to struggle after that."
Sindhu was 5-15 and 9-17 down. But it was not her day.
India defeated Australia in a tie that had no meaning. We won 4-1 faltering in the mixed doubles. India has never won a medal in the Sudirman Cup.
Former chief coach of India, Vimal Kumar was also upset at this loss. “I don’t think we had a good team spirit here like the one we had at the Thomas and Uber Cup last year," he said.
“Apart from Teressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, other players should have done better. Sindhu needs a moral boosting victory. She must get her confidence back, and soon," Vimal continued.
Overall I am disappointed with our efforts at the Sudirman Cup," he added.
Coming back to Sindhu, though she played quite a top-class match against Tai it is surprising that she does not hit downward strokes. Lifting the bird high gives players like Tai a lot of time to play her deceptive shots. She also must come with two or three game plans. She has done so well in the past. There is no reason why she can’t do it again.
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