Asian Games: Indian men's badminton team strikes first-ever silver medal
The Indian men's badminton team scripted history at the 2023 Asian Games as they settled for silver. Indian shuttles went down against China despite taking a 2-0 lead. Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, and Chirag Shetty won their matches. While Srikanth Kidambi, Mithun Manjunath and the pairing of Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek faltered on the big stage. HS Prannoy missed out due to injury.
Sen turns around in game three to beat Yuqi Shi
It was a hard-fought win for Sen against Yuqi. He started off brilliantly in the first game but Yuqi came back to give him a tough fight. Eventually, Sen won the first game. Yuqi retaliated in the second game to level the scoreline. The third game had ups and downs but Sen held his nerves to win the match. He won 22-20, 14-21, 21-18.
Rankireddy-Shetty dominates Chinese duo of Liang Weikeng and Wang Chan
Star Indian duo of Rankireddy and Shetty came out very confident against the World Number One pairing of Weikeng and Wang. The Indians lost their last match against South Korea and are looking to make amends against Weikeing and Wang. They cruised past the Chinese duo in both games to hand India a 2-0 in the final. Rankireddy-Shetty won the clash 21-15, 21-18.
Srikanth falters against Li Shifeng
Srikanth had a tough outing against Li Shifeng as he went down in straight games to allow China to make a comeback in the final. He gave his all in the first game and had the lead for the majority only to lose it in the end by 22-20. Shifeng dominated Srikanth in the second game to win 22-20, 21-8. China clawed back 2-1.
Kapila-Pratheek is no match for the Chinese pair
Indian scratch pairing of Kapila and Pratheek had a very poor outing against the Chinese men's doubles duo of Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi. Yuchen and Xuanyi blew past their Indian opponents in the first game. However, the Indian pair lost by a much respectable margin in the second game. Yuchen and Xuanyi won the clash 21-6, 21-15 to help China equalize 2-2.
Manjunath goes down against Weng Hongyang
It was a tough ask for Manjunath to deliver replacing an injured Prannoy and he lost out against China's Weng Hongyang in straight games to lose the gold medal. Weng had the match under control despite Manjunath fighting back in the first game, he never allowed him to take the lead. He dominated the clash 21-12, 21-4 for China to win 3-2.
First badminton men's team medal at the Asiad since 1986
This is India's fourth badminton team medal at the Asian Games and their first since 1986 Seoul when they secured a bronze medal led by Syed Modi. They also won a bronze medal in New Delhi in 1982 and Tehran in 1974. This was the first time India have reached the men's team event final and also won their first-ever silver medal.
