JOIN USSindhu, Saina lead the charge
Rising star PV Sindhu notched up two important victories as India ensured themselves of at least a bronze medal in badminton women’s team championship of the 17th Asian Games here on Saturday.
Facing a tricky opponent in Thailand, Saina Nehwal and Sindhu set the ball rolling in the crucial opening two singles before the latter came to the party again, pairing up with Ashwini Ponnappa in the final doubles rubber as India carved out a hard-fought 3-2 semifinal victory here at the Gyeyang Gymnasium.
Indian women had earlier beaten Macau 3-0 in the pre-quarterfinals.
The win gave India its first medal in badminton since the men’s team championship bronze medal at the 1986 Seoul Games, marking a wonderful return to South Korea.In the semifinals on Sunday, India will face hosts South Korea while favourites China take on Japan.
It was, however, a disappointing day for the Indian men as they crashed out to hosts South Korea 0-3 in their team championship pre-quarterfinal earlier.
Saina kick-started the proceedings against the dangerous Ratchanok Intanon, the reigning world champion. Saina began well against her Thai opponent, winning the opening game comfortably at 21-15.
Known for her gritty performances, Ratchanok found her touch in the second game as she dominated Saina from the start, securing it 21-17 to push the match into a decider.
Ratchanok then stepped on the accelerator in the third game, threatening to take the match away from Saina after opening up a commanding 16-11 lead. Saina then made a superb comeback, winning four points in row to narrow the advantage to 15-16.
The scores were level at 17-17 when Ratchanok indulged in time-wasting tactics to arrest Saina’s momentum. Saina, however, didn’t allow the distraction to get the better of her, scoring a morale-boosting victory ahead of major challenges to come.
Sindhu then demolished Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in straight games but PC Thulasi and the doubles combo of Sikki Reddy and Pradnya Gadre lost their respective rubbers that put India in a do-or-die situation.
However, Sindhu, despite having played two matches in the day, combined brilliantly with Ashwini to crush Sapsiree Terattanachai and Saralee Thoungthongkam 21-16, 21-17 to climax a memorable evening for the shuttlers.
Results: Men: Pre-quarterfinals: South Korea bt India 3-0 (Wanho Son 21-14, 21-8; Yeonseong Yoo/ Yongdae Lee bt Sumeeth Reddy/ Manu Attri 21-12, 21-9; Hyunil Lee bt Parupalli Kashyap 6-21, 21-14, 21-10).
Women: Quarterfinals: India bt Thailand: 3-2 (Saina Nehwal bt Ratchanok Intanon 21-15, 17-21, 21-18; PV Sindhu bt Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-15, 21-13; PC Thulasi lt to Busanan Ongbamrungphan 12-21, 14-21; Sikki Reddy/ Pradnya Gadre lt to Porntip Buranaprasertsuk / Kunchala Voravichitchaikul 17-21, 21-18, 16-21; Ashwini Ponnappa/ PV Sindhu bt Sapsiree Terattanachai/ Saralee Thoungthongkam 21-16, 21-17).
Pre-quarterfinals: India bt Macau 3-0 (Saina Nehwal bt Kit Leng Wong 21-6, 21-4; PV Sindhu bt U Teng Lok 21-8, 21-9; Sikki Reddy/ Pradnya Gadre bt Zhibo Zhang/ Rong Wang 21-16, 21-17).