Ajay Jayaram reacts after his 15-21, 20-22 loss to Indonesia’s Ginting Anthony in Hyderabad on Saturday. (Photo: Deepak Deshpande)
Ajay Jayaram reacts after his 15-21, 20-22 loss to Indonesia’s Ginting Anthony in Hyderabad on Saturday. (Photo: Deepak Deshpande)
After three days of great performances, India had finally run their course. The hosts were defeated 1-3 by Indonesia as the curtain came down on their campaign at the Badmin-ton Asia Team Champio-nships at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.
After singles star Kidambi Srikanth gave them a flying start, the hosts faltered badly, losing the remaining three matches.
The only consolation will be that, in qualifying for the semi-finals, they made the cut for the Thomas Cup.
Srikanth hit the ground running in the opening singles against Tommy Sugiarto. He played his heart out, bagging the first game 21-14. He looked set to take the second game as well, but Sugiarto had other ideas.
The Indonesian world no. 10 clawed his way back into contention, eventually claiming the second game 25-23, thus forcing the match into a decider. In the third game, Srikanth gathered his wits, and put on a dominant show. Playing with a mixture of aggression and craftiness, Srikanth defeated Sugiarto 21-9 to seal the match.
Despite the 1-0 advantage, the doubles pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy faltered badly, comprehensively outplayed 21-11, 21-10 as Indonesia pulled level.
Two days ago, with the team in a similar situation, Ajay Jayaram played brilliantly to give them the lead. On Saturday, however, he ran out of luck. Ginting Anthony, ranked world no. 34, stunned the 25th-ranked Jayaram 21-15, 22-20 as Indonesia took a 2-1 lead in the tie.
Pranaav Jerry Chopra/ Akshay Dewalkar did their best to keep the tie alive but were no match for Angga Pratama and Ricky Karanda Suwardi, losing 13-21, 21-18, 15-21.
Indonesia powered through 21-13 in the opening game of the tie. Just when it seemed like the hosts were down and out, Pranaav and Akshay pulled a rabbit out of the hat, bagging the second game 21-18 to force the third game. After a tense back-and-forth, Indonesia clinched it 21-15 and in doing so, booked themselves a spot in the final.
On Sunday, Indonesia clash with Japan for the men’s title while top seeds China meet Japan for top honours in the women’s category.
