Sudirman Cup 2023 badminton: India end campaign with 4-1 win over Australia
This was the Indian badminton team’s first win at the Suzhou meet. India finished third in Group C and failed to make the quarter-finals.
Badminton
India’s campaign at the Sudirman Cup 2023 badminton tournament ended on a winning note after the team defeated Australia 4-1 in their final group match at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre in China on Wednesday.
With the victory, the Indian badminton team finished third in Group C. India earlier lost to Chinese Taipei (4-1) and Malaysia (5-0) and failed to make the quarter-finals.
With their knockout hopes already over heading into the tie, India fielded a second-string side against Australia. PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were rested for the tie.
Sai Prateek and Tanisha Crasto went up against Australia’s Kenneth Zhe Hooi Choo and Gronya Somerville in the mixed doubles match but lost 17-21, 21-14, 21-18.
In the second match, world No. 7 HS Prannoy took the court against Australia’s Jack Yu in the men’s singles tie. HS Prannoy dominated Yu and cruised to a comfortable 21-8, 21-8 victory to level the score at 1-1.
The women’s singles match saw Anupama Upadhyaya make her Sudirman Cup debut. The 18-year-old Indian shuttler beat Australia’s Tiffany Ho 21-16, 21-18 to give India a 2-1 lead.
In the men’s doubles match, Dhruv Kapila partnered MR Arjun confirmed the tie for India with a 21-11, 21-12 win over Australia’s Ricky Tang and Rayne Wang.
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa then rounded up India’s 4-1 victory with a 21-19, 21-13 win over Kaitlyn EA and Angela Yu in the final women’s doubles match.
India have never won a medal at the Sudirman Cup. Their best finishes at the biennial mixed-team badminton event are quarter-final appearances in 2011 and 2017.