CHENNAI: Not long ago, Indian shuttlers had soared high, capturing the imaginations of many during the Thomas Cup. The men’s side had displayed fighting spirit, and camaraderie to do the impossible and lift the Cup — considered to be the highest honour in the team event.
They’ll once again look to conjure a similar tale when the badminton event kicks off at the CWG on Friday, starting with the mixed team event. Clubbed in Group 1 alongside three other teams, India will begin their title defence against Pakistan. The other teams in the group are Australia and Sri Lanka.
PV Sindhu, who has had a decorated career so far, continues to boss around and get colossal wins at big stages of the game.
Lakshya Sen continues to evolve as a player, adding more gloss to his game. Kidambi Srikanth, despite a couple of misses in the recent BWF events, is one of the top players India have banked on over the years.
If these players are on song, India could be hard to stop during the event.
Just like Lakshya, doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continue to get better and have pulled off some eye-catching wins against big names in recent times.
Having not featured in any event for a month or so, it will be interesting to see what they can bring to the table in this year’s edition.
Two-time singles winner Saina Nehwal could not find a place in the side after giving national trials a miss.
But there’s enough experience in someone like Ashwini Ponnappa, a doubles specialist who knows what it takes to be a winner.
“There have been lots of ups and downs in these years. I have changed a lot in 10 years, improved by leaps and bounds, have tons of experience behind me now and it does feel great to make it to the Commonwealth Games team again,” Ashwini said. In the last edition, Indian shuttlers had won 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze.
Know more about badminton
The badminton mixed team events begin on Friday. India is clubbed in Group I and will begin their campaign on the first day against Pakistan. Top two teams advance to the knockouts from each of the four groups. As you enjoy the games, we present certain facts about the sport. Around 2000 years ago, badminton originated in Siam, China and was brought to England in 1870. In India, it is believed that the root of the game is in Pune
Let us look the rules of this game!
The match is played to the best of three games. To win, the player must score 21 points. The player or pair winning a rally adds a point to its score.
If the game is tied at 20-20, then the player who first reaches a 2-point lead wins the game. If tied at 29-29, the side first scoring 30th point wins.
There are two rest periods during the game. A 90-second rest after the first game and a 5-minute rest after the second game.
The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world’s oldest badminton tournament and was first played in 1898.
The shortest badminton match ever played lasted for six minutes in which South Korea’s Ra Kyung-min defeated England’s Julia Mann in the 1996 Uber Cup.
The longest match lasted for 161 minutes during the 2016 Asian Championships women’s doubles between Japan’s Kurumi Yonao and Naoko Fukuman and Indonesia’s Greysia Polii and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari.