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India women clinch Badminton Asia Team Championships title
Teenager Anmol Kharb once again stepped up to win the decider as India subdued Thailand 3-2 in the final in Malaysia.
Social media posts of India's male shuttlers on reaching Malaysia for the Badminton Asia Team Championships were going viral a week back. As the Thomas Cup champions, all eyes of the badminton world were on them.
Led by PV Sindhu, the women too put out similar posts, but they never gained similar traction. It was understandable. Twice Olympic medallist Sindhu was returning from a four-month injury layoff, and barring Ashwini Ponnappa, most of the team was young – Tanvi Sharma, the youngest, is 15 – with barely any international experience.
Yet this unheralded women’s team showed incredible maturity to stand atop the rostrum in Shah Alam on Sunday afternoon after India beat Thailand 3-2 in the final to clinch the biennial title for the first time since its inception in 2016.
India, who beat the top three seeds China, Japan and Thailand, rode on the shoulders of Sindhu, Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand and 17-year-old Anmol Kharb on Sunday to deliver the gold and put India in good stead heading for the Uber Cup in Chengdu, China.
“Anmol's fearlessness stands out. She's gritty and her attitude and approach is perfect for team championships. She has no international experience and was picked in the team because she is our national champion. She in fact lost the finals of the junior nationals before winning the senior title,” national selector U Vimal Kumar said.
“In team matches there’s so much pressure and she enjoys it; that helped her win all the crucial matches. In tennis, Leander Paes always played exceptionally well in Davis Cup and delivered great results for India. Anmol has that spirit and how we can nurture her is the key going forward.”
It must be put in perspective that most teams came without their top players. China, who India beat 3-2 in the group stage, didn't have Olympic champion Chen Yufei, world No.6 He Bingjiao and world No.1 doubles combine Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan.
Japan were without two-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi and two of their top pairs. Thailand were without their two top singles players, including former world champion Ratchanok Intanon, with the big names deciding to rest and prepare for the BWF World Tour resuming next month in the crucial Olympic qualification period.
Vintage Sindhu
Though she lost to Japan’s Aya Ohori in Saturday's semi-final tie, Sindhu brought out her vintage game against Supanida Katethong in the opening singles. The former world champion played aggressively against a player who has troubled her in the past and it paid dividends. The 28-year-old rarely looked under pressure in the 39-minute encounter, winning 21-12, 21-12, her fifth in eight outings against Supanida.
Treesa and Gayatri, both 20, doubled the lead, winning a nerve-wracking contest against world No.10 Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai 21-16, 18-21, 21-16 for their second win in five meetings.
The world No.23 began with a clear plan. They pinned their opponents to the back court and attacked at every opportunity to win the opening game. But the superior defence of the Thai pairing helped them claw back into the match as the Indians lapsed into errors.
To their credit, Gayatri and Treesa hung in despite things not going their way and managed to rally from 6-10 down in the decider to 14-all. From 15-all, they won five straight points before converting the second of the five match points, finishing with an all-win record in the competition.
Ashmita Chaliha couldn't find the rhythm that saw her defeat former world champion Nozomi Okuhara on Saturday as she lost 11-21, 14-21. Doubles national champions Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra lost to the Aimsaard sisters, Benyapa and Nuntakarn, pushing the final into the deciding rubber.
Like against China in the group stage and Japan in semis, it came down to national champion Anmol. And the 17-year-old, playing in only her second international senior event, again delivered. Though she took time to get used to Pornpicha Choeikeewong’s power game and trailed 4-6 in the opener, once she started controlling the rallies there was no stopping her. Anmol, ranked world No.472, hammered the world No.45 21-14, 21-9.
When Pornpicha’s shuttle went long on the final point, Anmol ran to chief national coach Pullela Gopichand and the rest of the players rushed towards them, picking the Faridabad teenager on their shoulders and chanting her name in frenzied celebration at the Setia City Convention Centre.
"I'm very happy that we won because this is the first time India are winning gold at the Badminton Asia Team Championships. It is a big thing because history has been scripted here. Yesterday it went crazy in India because beating powerhouses like Japan and China was such a big thing. Today it will be full-on celebration in India and in the team as well,” said Anmol.
“I wanted to play my 100 percent but there was no pressure on me. We were confident of winning the fifth match. The experience has been really good because everyone was higher ranked than me. I’m very happy because it’s a big achievement at 17 years old. Now I have to train harder to beat tougher opponents."
Though the prestigious individual Asia Championships has existed since 1962, Badminton Asia (BA) formed the team championships for both sections in 2016 that serves as a qualification tournament for the Thomas and Uber Cups.
The Indian men’s team has already qualified as defending champions, while the women it once they reached the semis.
