CWG 2022: Silver for India in Badminton
CWG 2022: Silver for India in Badminton, India compromised on a silver medal in the mixed team badminton event at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on 2nd August. They were defeated by Malaysia 1-3. Kidambi Srikanth from India lost to Tze Yong Ng in three games.
In the men’s doubles, Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were overpowered by the Olympic bronze medallists duo of Teng Fong Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh.
PV Sindhu, the ace shuttler, won her match against Goh Jin Wei.
Kidambi Srikanth showed an underwhelming performance. India succumbed to Malaysia by 1-3. This led the way to the silver medal. Srikanth was knocked out by lower-ranked Tze Yong Ng in three games.
PV Sindhu performed as per expectation in the women’s singles. With these wins, Malaysia regained the title it had lost to India four years ago.
The women’s doubles and mixed doubles were the weak points of India. The country relied on men’s doubles and the two singles to get the job done.
The Malaysian crowd made more noise than the Indian crowd. This boosted Chia and Soh. After an equally tough battle, the Malaysians emerged victorious 21-18, 21-15. They put their country 1-0 up. In the women’s singles, PV Sindhu was expected to win comfortably. But the 60th-ranked Goh Jin Wei made it tough for the world number 7.
Sindhu was in lead 11-6 in the first game. But Goh emerged as a different player after the interval. She made the former champion run around the court. She displayed her talents with her skillful net play. Goh had a strong hold on the game to the very end.
Sindhu performed a forehand smash on Goh’s left to make it 21-20. Goh continued with similar net play in the second game. She tried to bring Sindhu close to the net. However, PV Sindhu took an 11-7 lead in the second game.
Goh closed the gap after the interval but Sindhu finished the game comfortably. The final scoreline displayed 22-20 and 21-17.
Treesa and Gayatri tried to put up a brave fight. It was not sufficient. The women’s doubles top seeds Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan got hold of the game with a 21-18, 21-17. They won it. Malaysia, thus, attained the gold medal.
World number 14 Srikanth displayed a flat performance in the men’s singles. The 42-ranked Tze Yong Ng took the first game away from Srikanth’s hold. Srikanth took the lead in the second game to level the match. In the decider, Tze was in lead with an 11-9 at the interval. It rested on 16-12. Srikanth was not able to match Tze’s net play.
In the Commonwealth Games 2022 medal tally, India stands at the sixth position. It is right behind South Africa. India has attained five gold medals, five silver, and three bronze medals. Australia is the leading country. Australia has attained 41 gold medals. England has 30 gold medals.