Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu face a stern test after being handed challenging draws, while defending champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty got a relatively favourable route to the semifinals as the focus shifts to the individual competitions following the team championships at the Asian Games, beginning here on Friday.
India managed to secure back-to-back medals at the Asian Games after the men’s team signed off with a bronze following a silver in the last edition at Hangzhou, China. It was a 1-3 loss to China in the semifinals which saw India settle for a bronze on Wednesday.
The loss can be attributed to the failure of the singles player as both Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty lost their respective matches. It was a similar story in women’s team championships as PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda came a cropper against Japanese counterparts in the quarterfinals to return without a medal.
The single stars will have to quickly recover from the disappointment and regroup as they train their guns at an individual medal at the 20th edition of the quadrennial showpiece. World No. 14 Lakshya had come into the competition after a series of first-round exits but showed tremendous grit to see off double world championships silver medallist Kodai Naroka in the clash against Japan in the quarterfinals. But he couldn’t sustain the same pressure against China’s Shi Yu Qi in the semifinals.
Lakshya, who received a first-round bye, will open his campaign against former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the second round. Things will not get any easier as the 25-year-old from Almora could then face world No. 1 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the quarterfinals if he surpasses Loh. Ayush, who had stunned Shi Yu Qi at the New Delhi World Championships, has also been handed a first-round bye but faces a difficult third-round assignment against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei if he progresses.