Worlds His‘two’ry

By Express News Service

CHENNAI:  In the 54-year and 26-edition history of the Badminton World Championships, India’s men’s players have underperformed. Barring two medals won by Prakash Padukone and Sai Praneeth, all the others have fallen by the wayside while striving for greatness. In that context, Friday could well go down as a red-letter day for men’s badminton in the country. Both Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen, in roughly 30 minutes of each other, multiplied that tally. And one of them will create history by becoming the first Indian man — they play each other in the semifinals on Saturday — to feature in a Worlds final. 

While Srikanth wiped the floor against Mark Caljouw in just 26 minutes (21-8, 21-7), Sen had to dig deep to prevail against Zhao Jun Peng. In fact, he was down a match point in the third stanza when he produced three high quality points to reach the last four. The 21-15, 15-21, 22-20 scoreline reflected the topsy-turvy encounter. A body smash kept him in the tournament and a barely believable backhand down-the-line winner earned him match point. He followed that with an easy put away into the open court before throwing his racquet into the air. 

For an athlete labelled as ‘Indian badminton’s next big thing’, a medal on debut will be a relief more than anything. Having lost a few tight games and matches in the year, this win shows he does have the character to stage a fight. The win also comes at a good time for the 20-year-old, a product of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru. With PPBA recruiting Yoo Yong-sung, winner of two Olympic medals when he was a player, Sen’s career could lift-off. Whatever happens in that match against Srikanth, this could be the moment when Sen’s career trajectory shows a clear northward shift. 

Another man who will have designs of being in Paris is Srikanth, who failed to qualify for the Olympics. However, that obscures his very good recent form. Even if his ranking is 14, he’s No 3 in the ‘Race to Guanzhou’. He reached the semifinals in two of his last four events. More importantly, according to his coach Siyadat, ‘he is fully fit’. Siyadat, who was supposed to travel to Huelva but didn’t after his visa did not come on time, says he’s back to playing being ‘old, aggressive self’. “Srikanth has been playing a lot recently, he’s in good rhythm,” he said. 

Both medals, though, will have to be put in proper context. With the tournament coming just after the Olympics and at the fag end of a punishing season amid a global pandemic, it’s not the strongest possible field. Indonesia, who have two players in the top seven, pulled out the entire contingent because of the new variant Omicron. Not to take anything away from the two Indians but the draw certainly made it easier for them to spring a surprise. 

One Indian who was hoping to spring a surprise was PV Sindhu but she fell to, Tai Tzu Ying in the quarters. Truth be said, Tai didn’t give Sindhu a sniff. She maneuvered Sindhu throughout the match. In the end, the 21-17, 21-13 scoreline summed up her performance. HS Prannoy also lost in the quarters, Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew downing him 21-14, 21-12. 

Results (all quarterfinals) 
Srikanth bt Caljouw 21-8, 21-7, Sen bt Jun Peng 21-15, 15-21, 22-20, Yew bt Prannoy 21-14, 21-12

Women’s singles 
Tai Tzu bt Sindhu 21-17, 21-13.