Hyderabad: Another day, another match gone down to the wire. For the second day running, India’s men won a thriller. This time, the win took them to the semifinals of the Badminton Asia Team Championships being played here at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium, on Friday.
The hosts defeated Malaysia 3-2 in the quarterfinals to book themselves a clash against Indonesia. Also, by reaching the last-four stage, India have qualified for Thomas Cup.
In the women’s quarterfinals, India were steamrollered 0-3 by Korea. P.V. Sindhu and the pair or Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa lost the two opening matches, leaving P.C. Thulasi too much to do. She too crumbled under the pressure as the women’s campaign came to a shuddering halt.
However, in a stroke of luck, the women too qualified for Uber Cup based on their world ranking. For the second day on the trot, H.S. Prannoy was given the responsibility of seeing India through and he rose to the occasion magnificently. Battling a determined Teck Zhi Soo, Prannoy won the match 21-12, 22-20.
Keeping his wits about him in a pressure-cooker situation, Prannoy set about dismantling his opponent in the opening game. Prannoy danced all around the court with deft strokes and powerful smashes to clinch it 21-12. Teck put up much more of a fight in the second game, and at one point, was tied 18-18 but the Indian lad powered through to a brilliant win.
“Teck is the kind of player who always goes in for the kill, so the chances of his making an error are always high,” Prannoy said after his win. “I just had to keep my cool and coax him into making errors,” he added.
“It’s a big day for us, for me especially. To be playing such a crucial match for my country, and to win it, is a great feeling. I’m very happy,” Prannoy said.
Earlier, Kidambi Srikanth gave India a bright start with a 21-14, 21-15 victory over Zulfladli Zulkiffli. The doubles pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy stretched the advantage to 2-0. Malaysia then forced themselves back through Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, who beat Ajay Jayaram 17-21, 21-12, 21-16. Yew Sin Ong/Ee Yi Teo pulled Malaysia level.
