NAGOYA: Four losses out of four.
It turned out to be a disastrous Sunday for Indian badminton as all the quarterfinalists, including double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, ended up on the losing side to bow out of the ongoing Asian Games in Aichi, Nagoya. This means India shuttlers will return with just the bronze medal, which was won by the men's team just a few days ago.
Mixed doubles pairing of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, the first to take the court, showed plenty of heart against the World No 1 pairing of Huang Dong Ping and Feng Yan Zhi. The Indians were clearly the underdogs going into the match but they gave the Chinese pair a strong fight, even managing to pocket a game. However, that was not enough as the Chinese pair eventually won 21-14, 18-21, 21-18 in 76 minutes.
Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly suffered a similar fate. After their World Championships bronze not so long ago, they had been on a high. But the women's doubles pair stood helpless as they were undone by Malaysian pair of Thinaah Miralitharan and Pearly Tan in straight games (21-18, 21-9).
Like Tanisha and Dhruv, singles specialist Unnati Hooda also had a steep task in front of her as she was up against a seasoned campaigner in the form of Akane Yamaguchi, the current World No 3. Unnati lost the first game but made a spirited fightback to pocket the second game. In the third game, Unnati continued to test the senior pro. But despite all that, she still fell short as Yamaguchi kept her calm to win the match 21-16, 14-21, 21-17.
Now the burden of responsibility fell on Sindhu. That has been the case for many years. Sindhu, alongside few other senior pros, have done many rescue acts over the years. Up against familiar rival in Chen Yufei. Sindhu made a bright start and it seemed like she could possibly pull off yet another saving act. But after losing a tight second game, the veteran shuttler ran out of steam and eventually lost the tie. Chen won 11-21, 21-18, 21-10.
It goes without saying, this is a massive setback for India. The 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea was the last time the country's shuttlers had failed to medal in the individual categories.