Worlds: Did the home expectations tell on Sindhu, Sat-Chi’s campaign?

It may be a question of looking at the glass as half empty or half full – but the followers of Indian badminton will wonder whether a lone doubles medal is enough from hosting a BWF World Championship at home after 17 years. The breakthrough act by the unseeded pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand has been a remarkable one for it did save the blushes.

For those looking at the positive takeaways, the Treesa-Gayatri show helped India extend a hugely creditable 15-year streak of having at least one podium finish to show for at every World Championships since 2011. PV Sindhu, a former champion, had been the most successful competitor on this stage accounting for five of those medals while Kidambi Srikanth had landed a silver in 2021 as the best-ever performance among men.

However, the overall singles show was a major letdown this time with none of the medal hopefuls being able to cross the quarters stage. What was even more disappointing was the capitulation of the Satwik-Chirag duo in men’s doubles, a two-time bronze medallist at the Worlds and former world No.1 pair. ‘’They were everywhere. Wherever we were hitting, they would counter it,’’ a disappointed Satwik said after they went down in straight sets to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang.

The Worlds, only the second to Olympics in terms of stature (though both offer maximum number of ranking points), is one of the biggest stages and the seedings gave enough signs that it won’t be easy for the Indians with only Sindhu figuring in top 10 (ninth seed) and Satwik-Chirag pair at No.5. Add to this was the pressure of playing before a home crowd at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, which would be choc-a-bloc for the marquee matches, which resulted in an overall tepid performance.

Ask the top Indian players about playing before home crowd and the refrain would be a positive one. As Satwiksairaj Rankireddy said on the eve of the tournament: ‘’It is fun and challenging, exciting. There is no pressure. Everyone says pressure is privilege. We love taking the challenge. Hopefully, we will handle it in a positive way.’’

However, it was something easier said than done as someone as experienced as Sindhu looked over-anxious to finish her last 16 game against China’s world No.3 Wang Zhi Yi which resulted in her going down in three sets in pre quarters. ‘’I should have been more patient,’’ admitted a candid Sindhu, who also raised questions as to whether Wang resorted to gamesmanship by medical timeouts time and again.  

Lakshya Sen, seeded 14^th and a former bronze medallist, kicked off his campaign with a victory over Collins Valentine Filimon when he rallied from a game down to pull off a clinical comeback to advance in the competition. However, he looked lacklustre in the very next game and was eliminated by Garret Tan of the US in the Round of 32.

There are, however, no prizes for guessing the biggest positive in the singles category: Ayush Shetty. Now 21, the six feet seven inches Ayush entered the competition as unseeded but delivered one of the most stunning upsets in the opening round, defeating China’s Shi Yuqi, the reigning world champion and World No. 1. He kindled the expectations further with another smooth win against a lower ranked Dumindu Abeywickrama of Sri Lanka – but faltered thereafter. He simply didn’t have the answers against Alwi Farhan of Indonesia, who resorted to body smashes and looked more agile while disposing off Ayush in straight sets.

Meanwhile, Unnati Hooda – appearing in her first Worlds – looked out of depth and was defeated by Myanmar’s Thet Htar Thuzar. It’s not for nothing that badminton is hailed as one of the growth areas of Indian sport in the new millennium, but it could be time to look beyond the handful of saviours to break the barriers!