Badminton: PV Sindhu, Unnati Hooda Make Brave Efforts But Bow Out In Asian Games Quarterfinals

PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda bow out from Asian Games Quarterfinals© Getty

PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda put up brave efforts before going down in their respective women's singles quarterfinals as Indian shuttlers cut a sorry figure at the Asian Games, failing to win a medal in the individual competition on Sunday. India had won three medals at the last edition in Hangzhou, with the men's team winning a silver, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty claiming doubles gold and HS Prannoy returning with a bronze in men's singles.

However, three years later, while the Indian men's team managed a bronze, none of the shuttlers could reach the semifinals of the various categories, which would have assured a medal.

Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu, forced to play her third match in less than 24 hours, lost to Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei 21-11, 18-21, 10-21.

While 19-year-old Hooda went down 16-21, 21-14, 17-21 to three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi in another quarterfinal.

Earlier, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who won a maiden World Championships bronze last month, suffered a 18-21, 9-21 loss to Malaysian world No. 5 pairing Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in the women's doubles quarterfinals.

At the adjacent court, the mixed doubles pair Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto produced a gallant fight before losing 14-21, 21-18, 18-21 to world No. 1 China's Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dongping in another quarterfinal.

"It's very disappointing that we could not win a medal but we are really proud of the effort we both of us have made. We fought till the end, till the last point," Tanisha said after the match.

"A lot of learnings from the Asian Games. We played some really good badminton. I think it is one of the best we played against the Chinese. We have made a lot of improvement from our end. There is a lot of hunger and lot more confidence."

Dhruv said they had put their opponents under a lot of pressure but could have done better.

"We put them under a lot of pressure in the second game. In the third game, the gap was bigger but we came very close, but we could have done better. We made the match very close. We will take a break now and we will see how it goes after that."

Sindhu vs Chen

  The 31-year-old Indian came into the clash with a 7-9 head-to-head record against the Chinese, having defeated her and route to her Japan Open Super 750 title in July.

Playing her third match in less than 24 hours, Sindhu showed no signs of fatigue as she dominated the proceedings early on. She moved well across the court and dictated the terms to move from 9-2 to 11-8 at the mid-game break.

The Chinese narrowed the lead to 10-13, but Sindhu continued to dominate to go 18-11 up before sealing the opening game.

Chen made a better start after the change of ends, leading 5-2 and 9-5, but Sindhu, who had played her second match well past midnight on Saturday, clawed back to 9-9 and stayed neck and neck with her opponent until 12-12 and 16-18.

The rallies were getting extended, with an average of 43 shots, as the two fought hard. Chen earned two game points and forced a decider.

In the third game, Chen opened up a 4-0 lead and, despite some fightback from Sindhu, managed to take a four-point cushion at the interval. It was a downhill slope for Sindhu after the resumption as Chen won 10 of the next 11 points to shut the door on the Indian.

Unnati vs Yamaguchi

World No. 3 Yamaguchi troubled Hooda early on, with the Japanese producing a variety of strokes, including a disguised drop, to take control. From 3-4, Yamaguchi reeled off eight straight points to move 11-4 ahead at the break.

The 19-year-old Hooda tried to fight back with attacking strokes and smashes, but Yamaguchi maintained the pressure. At 14-8, the Japanese ended a long rally with another disguised drop before earning four game points and converting the first to take the opening game.

Hooda made a strong start after the change of ends, although Yamaguchi initially opened up a 6-3 lead. The Indian clawed her way back to 7-7 with some precise shot-making and then won seven of the next nine points to move 10-8 ahead.

Yamaguchi responded with two points to lead 11-10 at the interval, but Hooda continued to control the rallies with a series of high tosses that repeatedly pushed the Japanese into long exchanges.

The Indian built a 17-14 lead as Yamaguchi began making errors, and Hooda seized the opportunity to force a decider by winning eight successive points.

The final game was closely contested, with the two tied at 5-5 before Yamaguchi moved ahead 8-5. A long rally ended with a precise cross-court drop from the Japanese, who took an 11-8 lead at the change of ends after another sharp reaction at the net left Hooda stranded.

Hooda continued to pepper the backcourt with tosses and extend the rallies, but Yamaguchi managed to hold on to her advantage. The Japanese led 14-11 after another gruelling exchange.

Hooda kept fighting and forced Yamaguchi into difficult rallies, but a net error left her trailing 14-16. She then smashed wide as Yamaguchi moved 18-16 ahead before a precise smash gave the Japanese three match points.

Hooda found the net on the next point, bringing an end to her campaign after a determined quarterfinal effort.

Poor scheduling forced the players, including Sindhu, Hooda and Ayush Shetty, to play two matches within just a few hours on the same day on Saturday. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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