Prannoy settles for bronze in singles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made short work of Aaron Chia Teng Fong and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia 21-17, 21-12 to storm into the men's doubles final at the Asian Games badminton on Friday. HS Prannoy, playing with a back niggle, had to rest content with a bronze after losing the singles semifinal to Li Shifeng of China 21-16, 21-9.
Satwik and Chirag are the first Indian doubles team to reach an Asiad final and this is the best show by the Indian shuttlers. They are in line to win at least two silver and a bronze. India won three bronze in 1982 and a bronze and a silver in 2018. The world No.3 Indian duo will face world No.15 Korean pair of Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho. The Koreans downed Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei 21-12, 21-10 in the other semifinal.
Satwik-Chirag go into the final as favourites, having defeated the Korean pair twice in the last two years.
The Indians did not allow the Malaysians to get a foothold in the match. Consistently hitting hard, they reeled off seven straight points from 10-10 in the first game. Though the Malaysians saved three game points at 20-14, the gap was too big to overcome. The Indians continued in the same vein and jumped to 11-3 lead by the break in the second game. Producing smash winners with ease and retrieving everything, the Indians were in splendid form throughout the 46-minute contest.
Chief coach Pullela Gopichand was thrilled. "It's a fantastic performance. Both have hard-hitting skills but they have displayed their retrieving skills today," Gopichand told TOI. "We have witnessed several big results from the girls but very few expected the boys to come good in this tournament. I am happy with what we have achieved after several decades," he added.
Prannoy was not able to give his best against Li. "After 41 years, someone from India is getting an Asian medal in men's singles. This shows how tough the Asian Games are. It's a kind of World Championship for us. In the top 10, there are nine from Asia. So ,to win a medal is up there with the World Championships bronze that I won last month," said Prannoy.
"I've had this injury in the past... Hopefully, in the next few weeks, I will be in a much better position," he added.
