Sudirman Cup: India’s Wait For Semi-Final Berth Continues As PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy Concede Defeats

India’s wait to make it to the semi-final of the Sudirman Cup continued on Tuesday as they were knocked out of the group stage of the current edition. The Indian badminton team suffered a defeat by 1-4 against Indonesia in their second Group D match in Xiamen, China. This marked India’s second loss in the tournament after suffering a drubbing at the hands of Denmark in their opening tie on Sunday.

With two victories each against India and England, Denmark and Indonesia booked their spots in the semi-finals from Group D. India will face England on Thursday to avoid a last-place finish in their group.

India’s title triumph in the Thomas Cup 2022 and a silver medal in the men’s event at the Asian Games 2023 had sparked hopes of a strong showing in the future team events. However, India’s campaign in the Sudirman Cup began with two injury setbacks - Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand were ruled out of the tournament.

The tie against Indonesia started on a bright note for India as Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto pulled off a stunning win in mixed doubles after losing the first set to register a win by 10-21, 21-18, 21-19 against the pair of Rehan Kusharjanto and Gloria Widjaja. The sole win in the tie gave an early lead to the Indian team, but it was the only victory for India in the whole tie.

PV Sindhu was outplayed in straight games by Putri Kusuma Wardani, while HS Prannoy lost his match after winning the first set by 21-19. The pair of Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra was then outplayed by Lanny Tria Mayasari and Siti Silva Ramadhanti in the women’s doubles.

Hariharan Amsakarunan and Rethina Sabapathi were then outplayed by the opposition in the last match of the tie, and India were knocked out of the tournament.