Sudirman Cup Final
XIAMEN, (China) April 28: Faced with a herculean task to trump a formidable Indonesia and stay afloat in the competition, an under-strength India will need its struggling singles stars to deliver the goods in a must-win Group D contest at the BWF Sudirman Cup Finals here on Tuesday.
India’s campaign began on a disastrous start on Sunday with a 1-4 defeat to Denmark, a result that put their qualification for the knockout stage in serious jeopardy.
With only two teams progressing from Group D, India must secure a win against Indonesia to keep their hopes alive otherwise, their third and final group match against England will be reduced to just a formality.
The poor form of their star singles players – Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, and PV Sindhu has not helped the team.
However, there is some hope for India. Lakshya has defeated Indonesia’s top men’s singles player Jonatan Christie in their last two encounters – at the Paris Olympics and the All England Championships.
In the women’s singles, with Indonesia’s top player Gregoria Mariska Tunjung pulling out, Sindhu will face world No. 11 Putri Kusuma Wardani, a player she has beaten twice before.
Despite this, Indonesia boast a strong contingent of doubles players, including Fajar Alfian, Muhammad Rian Ardianto, Leo Rolly Carnando, Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, and Daniel Marthin – all ranked among the world’s top 10.
With India’s top men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty absent, the inexperienced pairing of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi will face an uphill battle in what is likely to be a tough contest.
In the women’s doubles, Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi are ranked world No. 8, and without Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, Tanisha Crasto and Shruti Mishra will be hoping to build on their encouraging performance against Denmark, which was the lone bright spot for India in their opening match.
In the mixed doubles, India’s Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha will face the challenge of overcoming world No. 21 Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari of Indonesia.
Back in February, India had suffered a setback at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals in Qingdao, despite fielding a strong squad and they would like to avoid a league stage exit here.
India’s best-ever performance at the Sudirman Cup has been two quarterfinal finishes: in 2011 and 2017.
While India has made significant progress in recent years – highlighted by their historic Thomas Cup win in 2022 and the Badminton Asia Women’s Team Championships title in 2024 – the absence of key doubles pairs has dampened their prospects in the ongoing Sudirman Cup. (PTI)