Badminton Asia Championships 2024: India's campaign ends in last 16 with PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy's exit

Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto also bowed out from the round of 16.

India’s campaign at the Badminton Asia Championships 2024 drew to an end following the defeats of PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and women’s doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto in the round of 16 on Thursday. Sindhu, two-time Olympic medallist, suffered a shock exit against China’s Han Yue going down 18-21, 21-13, 17-21 in 69 minutes. This was her first loss against the Chinese shuttler.

Ashwini/Tanisha then went down against World No. 3 Japanese duo Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in straight games (17-21, 12-21) before HS Prannoy’s loss against WR-19 Lin Chun-Yi of Taipei ended India’s campaign in the tournament.

Before the start of the match, Sindhu held a 5-0 head-to-head advantage over the sixth-seeded Chinese player, who is also playing for a spot at the Paris Olympics 2024.

As expected, it was the Indian who started strongly racing to a six-point lead in no time. She led 11-5 at one stage and was cruising before Han made a comeback with six straight points to snatch the momentum and close the opening game at 21-18.

Sindhu won the second game comfortably, with a score of 21-13. In the decider, Sindhu made some wrong judgments and found herself trailing 9-11 at the interval. After the change of ends, Han did not leave any loose ends and took a commanding 17-10 lead. Although Sindhu managed to close the gap, it wasn’t enough. Sindhu eventually lost with scores of 18-21, 21-13, 17-21 in 69 minutes.

In the women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, who recently confirmed their qualification for the Paris Olympics, were up against Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida from Japan. After 49 minutes of play, they lost the match 17-21, 12-21.

World Championships bronze medallist, HS Prannoy, went down against Taipei’s Lin Chun Yi. Prannoy, who was dragged into three games by China’s Lu Guang Zu in the previous round late yesterday, looked tired and started poorly with Lin leading 11-7 at the interval of game 1.

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But the Indian played some fantastic badminton and managed to equalize the score at 15-15. After a terrific rally at 17-19, which Prannoy won, Lin took two straight points to win the first game 18-21.

In the first half of the second game, the WR-19 Taipei star played some aggressive badminton and held a three-point lead at the interval (11-8). The second half of the game, however, was largely one-way traffic for Lin as he won 21-11 to seal the match and advance into the quarterfinals.

With their campaign over at the Badminton Asia Championships 2024, Indian shuttlers will next be in action at the Thomas & Uber Cup, which starts on April 28. The Indian men’s team will be defending their Thomas Cup title in this edition.

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