The takeaway from India’s Asian Games men’s team semifinal loss was something they have never traditionally been great at – maintaining fitness levels deep into a draw.
After a brilliant takedown of Japan in the quarters that ensured a bronze medal, both Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty couldn’t raise their levels against top Chinese, as India lost 3-1 to the serial title contenders.
Kidambi Srikanth in Hangzhou 2023, and Sen and Ayush this time, couldn’t maintain the momentum on big medal days. Pitted against a perfectly calibrated Chinese machine, Wednesday’s semifinal became a fade-out of energy less than 24 hours after the high-tempo Japan win.
Big medals require turning up dialled in on back-to-back knockout days. And Sen and Ayush simply looked spent against a higher-quality opponent with the short turnaround.
With both singles lost, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s fantastic 21-11, 22-20 win over newly crowned world champions Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang remained that 1 point of resistance.
Running on empty
Sen has stepped up on big days before, notably beating Shi Yuqi at the 2022 Thomas Cup and 2023 Asian Games. But while the intensity of every rally was unforgiving – and Yuqi is a World No 1 of August vintage, also a Teams event beast – Sen also didn’t have enough in his fuel tank to push a decider. Against China, the straight sets loss came after the highs of downing Kodai Naraoka.
Sen defended well, worked the angles and produced a bunch of rousing winners. But the hard-fought points brought few returns, in the 21-16, 21-18 loss, as Yuqi was imperious in the net charge and rained down attacks more often than Sen could defend. Sen didn’t play badly, but he never looked like winning either.
Facing the world champions Liang-Wang next, Satwik-Chirag smoothly put down the hesitant Chinese, with the Chirag-attack keeping the shuttle buzzing and Satwik going for body smashes that kept the dangerous Wang Chang busy on the back court and away from the net. With the scores 1-1, Ayush Shetty formed the pivot taking on Li Shifeng.
Shi Yuqi is down to World No 6, and Li Shifeng has been low-key for a while, having plunged to No 12, but they seemed primed to peak at the Asian Games, and Shifeng got Ayush into one right tangle. Ayush played delectably at the net, and his smashes whistled, but he was left stranded at the backline as Shifeng sent high lifts and clears, testing his ability to connect the smash. Ayush fumbled, dumping them into the net, his arms appearing tired. And his chances at the net saw him linger too long and play less sharply, which meant Shifeng grew in confidence. The Indian imploded quite a bit to lose 21-19, 21-13. Ayush seemed patchy if not flat after yesterday’s exertions.
Singles concern
The team campaign will leave coaches scratching their heads: none of the five singles players fielded across the men’s and women’s knockouts won. The only wins came from Satwik-Chirag and Treesa-Gayatri in doubles.
For the 2022 Thomas Cup-winning squad that boasted of singles depth, India might seem in trouble in 2026 after this semis loss. At any rate, the ‘tournament fitness’ of back-to-back matches for Sen and Ayush left a lot to be desired. A second straight medal, an Asian Games team bronze, though, will be deservedly feted.
In the last-gasp second doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun played a spectacular mid-set against He Ji Ting and Liu Yi, whose coordination was quite off, as young Hari showed promise with his ‘Little Satwik’ style. But they were hammered in the last set, losing 17-21, 21-17, 21-9.
Doubles coach Tan Kim Her later came out and declared that Hari too showed dropping energy in the third, prompting the urgent need to work on his fitness. “Hari-Arjun tried their very best. First set was physically tough. But Hari’s energy dropped quite a bit. But we lost because of service and receive. But Hari’s energy dropped,” he stressed.
On the tie defeat, he reiterated that the Sen match was crucial. “Everyone gave their best. But the first match was important. That point from Lakshya. If he could’ve gone into the rubber game (decider) against Shi Yuqi, we stood a good chance. Unfortunately, he …but he tried his best. Satwik-Chirag were very good in how we managed to control the front play (front court). Chirag played well in front. Defending was solid. For singles, we expected Ayush to get a point. But it was the same. First set – had he won, everything could’ve been different.”
That was too many things not going right to dream of beating China at Asiad. India had lost 2-3 at the Team Asian Championships. In Nagoya, it was tamer.