Chirag Shetty and Dhruv Kapila in men’s doubles and Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in women’s doubles defeated shuttle superpower China, whom India narrowly defeated 3-2 in the semi-finals in Dubai on Saturday.
The women’s doubles victory was especially significant, with Treesa and Gayatri winning the battle of teenagers 21-18, 13-21, 21-19. China has sent a young team to Dubai. However, the Indians, who are also young, won their third straight game by keeping their cool against higher-ranked opponents. Treesa attacked relentlessly but accurately, and Gayatri’s positional offense was invaluable at the net.
However, it was the Indians’ clutch temperament that stood out against the Chinese, who led for the majority of the decider and especially going into the home stretch. While Treesa-Gayatri also finished in the Top 5, this was the higher-pressure pump, with India needing to stay in contention. While India was unable to win the mixed doubles, Tanisha and Ishaan showed promise of developing into a fighting pair in the coming months.
Earlier, India got their first point of the semifinal when Chirag Shetty and Dhruv Kapila came back against He-Zhou, winning 21-19, 21-19. China was leading 2-1 at the time. It was Shetty’s cool demeanor on the court once more, though Dhruv too neatly fit into Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s notch and was far from a weak link despite the fact that they were pairing up for the first time. Dhruv matched Chirag on the winners and showed no nerves against the inexperienced but capable Young Chinese pair.
Even when they field two singles players outside the Top 100 who go scalping Indian Top Tenners, China is a different beast in team events. So, even if HS Prannoy was playing World No. 121 Lei Lan Xi, the quality of the player was guaranteed. With his variety of strokes played at a faster pace than Prannoy could handle, the left-handed shuttler packed quite a punch.
Lan Xi moved quickly and caused problems for world No. 9 Prannoy with drop shots and the piercing arrow straight smash. Few can claim to have hit Prannoy on the body attack because his defense is dependable due to his side stance. Lan Xi, who has only played in a few International series, was unstoppable in the 21-13, 21-15 victory as India fell behind 0-1.
Women’s singles became more difficult, though Gao Fang Jie entered the tie with a 2-0 mental advantage over PV Sindhu and finished with a 3-0 head-to-head. The tall Chinese, who resembled Li Xuerui’s rangy game, began with a blitz, winning the first game 21-9. Sindhu, on the other hand, was up for the challenge and brought her A-game to level the sets.
Sindhu’s badminton has always been distinguished by the superior quality of stroke play she is capable of even as a match progresses, and this was evident once more. She got Gao with her drops, but cleared to the baseline, thanks to the Chinese World No 101’s error. Gao, on the other hand, had her hooks and drops in the clutch as she came back from a three-point deficit to race to the finish, picking up the pace. Gao defeated PV Sindhu 21-9, 16-21, 21-18 to put India down 2-0.
Following the doubles victories, either of the singles victories would have helped India reach the historic finals. But, with only a few months until the Sudirman Cup, India will only look back on victories over Malaysia and Hong Kong, as well as a strong comeback in every match against China, which, along with Korea, is a team event powerhouse.
