Slow start dents India's chances of matching 2023 golden haul

• India’s hopes of matching their 28-gold haul from Hangzhou have taken a hit after Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s shock men’s doubles exit.

• Shooting, equestrian and archery have so far failed to replicate their medal-winning returns from the 2023 Asian Games.

• Athletics remains a major medal prospect despite the absence of Neeraj Chopra and Annu Rani, with India adding three medals on Friday.

It’s almost the halfway mark at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, but the bitter truth is that India’s hopes of matching their gold medal haul at Hangzhou (28), leave alone bettering it, seem to be slipping away. There was another heartbreak on Friday when the individual events began in badminton, with defending champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s men’s doubles campaign ending almost before it had begun.

The world No. 5 men’s doubles pair, on a high after bouncing back with the China Masters crown just before the Games, squandered a lead to go down 21-12, 19-21, 14-21 to Thailand’s world No. 36 Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukhphun in a little over an hour. It was nothing less than a shocker, especially after hopes that members of the men’s team would build on their team bronze in the individual events following a 3-1 defeat to China.

The former world No. 1 pair, who won India’s first-ever Asian Games men’s doubles badminton gold in Hangzhou, have now exited with only a team bronze. The Thai pair countered them with pace and exceptional net control, keeping the rallies flat and denying the Indians the length they needed to unleash their trademark smashes. It was also Sat-Chi’s first defeat to the Thai pair in three meetings, with all three encounters going to a deciding game.

At the time of writing, India have two gold medals to show for their efforts — from women’s cricket and the Suruchi Singh-Kamaljeet mixed-team shooting event — while several major title defences remain alive, including men’s cricket, men’s and women’s hockey and kabaddi.

There are also track and field athletes who have headed into the Games with good form behind them and can still spring surprises. Friday itself saw Indian athletes chip in with three medals, with Gulveer Singh winning silver in the men’s 10,000m, Baranica Elangovan taking bronze in the women’s pole vault and shot-putter Manpreet Kaur claiming bronze. India’s 107-medal haul in Hangzhou, which earned them a fourth-place finish, comprised 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze medals.

A closer look at the slow start this time around and one can zero in on the athletes’ failure to replicate the success rate in shooting, equestrian and dressage so far. The outlook in athletics, which accounted for the highest number of medals from a single discipline in Hangzhou — 29, including six gold — also looks a little bleak with the absence of the peerless Neeraj Chopra through injury and Annu Rani due to poor form.

In the shooting range, India produced a gold-silver sweep in the women’s 10m air pistol through Palak Gulia and Esha Singh in Hangzhou, but this time around, double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker finished fifth. The results in the men’s and women’s 10m air pistol team events and the men’s 10m air rifle team event were also disappointing, though the shooting camp has pinned hopes on Manu for a comeback in the women’s 25m pistol.

Meanwhile, the archers reaped a rich haul in Hangzhou when India’s compound archery team pulled off a clean sweep of five gold medals. However, defending champion Ojas Deotale, alongside veterans Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das, failed to make the Nagoya squad in the selection trials, making an encore highly improbable.