India lose to Malaysia in badminton mixed team final, claim silver

PV Sindhu was the only Indian shuttler to win her match in the summit clash at Commonwealth Games 2022.

After dominating all of their matches, India had a difficult day in the finals against Malaysia, who are regarded as one of the best teams in Badminton history. In front of a packed arena in Birmingham, the Indian mixed badminton team lost 1-3 and settled for silver at Commonwealth Games. After crushing Singapore with a 3-0 sweep in the semifinals, it looked like India could easily grab gold, but Malaysia had some other plans.

In the first match, Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy lost to Teng Fong Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh 18-21, 15-21. The Indian duo never looked confident throughout the battle and were clueless to the regular smashes coming in from the Malaysians.

PV Sindhu lifts hopes of Indian fans

PV Sindhu, who was the biggest hope for India, gave India a magnificent comeback after beating Jin Wei Goh 22-20, 21-17 in the women’s singles match. In the first set, Goh was down by six points, but made a splendid comeback with some back-to-back points.

At one point, it was 20-20, but Sindhu held her nerves to grab the first game. The second game was a bit easier for the Indian shuttler as she managed to put Goh under pressure. Her incredible show helped India level the finals at 1-1.

Kidambi Srikanth, women's doubles pair lose

It was now time for Kidambi Srikanth to outclass NG Tze Yong to give India a 2-1 lead, but that did not happen as the Malaysian star got the better of Srikanth in the first and third game. Srikanth lost the match 19-21, 21-6, 16-21. He put all his experience into play and even managed to put Yong under pressure on a few occasions.

However, the Malaysian was in a different zone in front of a packed crowd. Even if the Indian badminton superstar lost, this match will be remembered as one of the best of the CWG 2022.

The duo of Gopichand and Jolly played the do-or-die encounter against Thinaah Muralitharan and Tan Koong Le Pearly, which did not go in their favour. The Indian duo fought well, 18-21 and 17-21, in a close affair. However, they couldn’t stop Malaysia from winning the gold. Match 5 did not take place because the Malaysians were already in the lead with 3 wins.

The Men's and Women’s Singles and Doubles Rounds will commence on August 3.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Twitter, and Instagram and join our community on Telegram.