Sudirman Cup 2023: How did Team India fare at the tournament?
India had a rather disappointing campaign in the Sudirman Cup 2023. Placed in Group C along with Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, and Australia, they finished third in the table with five points. The Indian contingent won only five out of their 15 matches.
India won only one of their first 10 matches against Malaysia and Chinese Taipei to start their campaign before racking up some consolation wins against Australia. The Aussies finished at the bottom of the table with only one win from 14 matches at the Sudirman Cup 2023.
India started their Sudirman Cup 2023 campaign with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei. After losing their mixed doubles matches, HS Prannnoy lost 19-21, 16-21 to Chou Tien Chen. PV Sindhu tried hard against Tai Tzu Ying before losing the match 14-21, 21-18, 17-21.
India also lost their men’s doubles match to trail 0-4 before Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela won their women’s doubles match to avoid a whitewash. They beat Lee Chia Hsin and Teng Chun Hsun 15-21, 21-18, 21-13.
Thereafter, India were thrashed by Malaysia 5-0. Kidambi Srikanth lost to Lee Zii Jia 16-21, 11-21. PV Sindhu, India’s two-time Olympic medallist, lost 21-14, 10-21, 20-22 at the hands of Goh Jin Wei.
India struggled against their Malaysian opponents in the men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles as well.
India secure a consolation win against Australia at Sudirman Cup 2023
India put their best foot forward against Australia, but by then, it was all too late. Sai Praneeth and Tanisha Crasto lost to Kenneth Zhe Hooi Choo and Gronya Somerville 21-17, 14-21, 18-21. At that stage, it seemed like they are staring at another defeat after losing to Malaysia and Chinese Taipei.
But HS Prannoy drew the equalizer against Australia by beating Jack Yu 21-8, 21-8. For the first time in the tournament, India took the lead after Anupama Upadhyaya defeated Tiffany Ho 21-16, 21-18.
MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila beat Ricky Tang and Rayne Wang 21-11, 21-12 to take India’s lead to 3-1. Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponappa capped off India’s disappointing campaign at the Sudirman Cup 2023 on a high after beating Kaitlyn Ea and Angela Yu 21-19, 21-13.