Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stunned reigning world champions Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, but defeats in both singles matches ended India’s hopes of reaching a second successive Asian Games men’s badminton team final as China completed a 3-1 semifinal victory Wednesday.
India, silver medallists at Hangzhou 2023, signed off with bronze at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium. Lakshya Sen lost the opening singles to world No. 6 Shi Yu Qi before Satwik and Chirag brought India level. Ayush Shetty’s defeat to Li Shi Feng restored China’s advantage, while Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun went down in the second doubles to end the contest.
Lakshya falls to Shi
A day after producing a remarkable comeback against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the quarterfinals, world No. 14 Lakshya could not reproduce the result against Shi, losing 16-21, 18-21.
Lakshya remained competitive through both games but struggled to consistently break down the former world champion. He fought back to draw level at 16-16 in the second before Shi closed out the contest in straight games to put China 1-0 ahead.
India responded emphatically through Satwik and Chirag. The reigning Asian Games men’s doubles champions dominated Liang and Wang in the opening game, racing through it 21-11 against the reigning world champions and world No. 3 pair.
The second game developed into a much tighter contest. Liang and Wang saved two match points to level the score at 20-20, but the Indians held their nerve and converted their third opportunity to take the game 22-20 and level the semifinal at 1-1.
Ayush unable to repeat heroics
Ayush, who had sealed India’s 3-0 quarterfinal victory over hosts Japan Tuesday, faced world No. 12 Li Shi Feng in the second singles.
The world No. 20 Indian pushed Li closely in the opening game but could not capitalise on his opportunities, losing 19-21. Li established greater control in the second and took it 21-13, restoring China’s lead at 2-1.
That left Hariharan and Arjun needing to win the second doubles to keep India alive. Facing He Ji Ting and Liu Yi, the world No. 25 Indian combination lost the first game 16-21 but responded strongly to take the second 21-17. The Chinese pair, however, pulled away decisively in the final game. They won it 21-9 to complete China’s 3-1 victory and secure a place in the gold-medal contest.
Back-to-back podium finishes
The defeat brought India’s men’s team campaign to an end with bronze, a day after a 3-0 victory over Japan had guaranteed a medal.
Despite missing another final, the campaign gave India back-to-back Asian Games medals in the men’s team competition for the first time in 40 years. India had last achieved successive podium finishes with bronze medals in 1982 and 1986.
At Hangzhou 2023, India reached the men’s team final before losing 2-3 to China and taking silver. Three years later, China again proved the barrier between India and the gold-medal contest, although Satwik and Chirag’s straight-games victory over the reigning world champions provided the standout performance of the semifinal.
India’s attention will now turn to the individual badminton events, with Lakshya, Satwik-Chirag and the rest of the contingent looking to add to the country’s medal tally.