Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are aiming to win their maiden title at the All England championships, secure a Paris Olympics berth, and possibly emerge No 1 in the world.
'You can't just have one single player who is individually doing well and be able to win the World Championship or the Olympics.' 'In the Thomas Cup, you need a group of players performing at the same time at their highest level.' 'So that shows how difficult it is, and what a great achievement that is for a country like India to be able to win it.'
The Indian men's team is searching for its maiden medal at the tournament. No Indian men's team has ever reached the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup.
This is the third time this year that Sindhu has been knocked out in the first round of the tournaments she's played.
Indian badminton star Pusarla V Sindhu won badminton's women's bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, beating China's He Bing Jao 21-13, 21-15 in third-place play-off on Sunday.
Three years ago, India returned from Tokyo with seven medals, and it is only natural that a double-digit performance is now desired in Paris.
Check out the complete schedule of Indian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics
Sindhu suffered a shock defeat to lower-ranked Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei
Sindhu expectedly faced no resistance from Uganda's Husina Kobugabe, winning 21-10, 21-9 in her pre-quarterfinal match.
With the main draw of the Asian Badminton Championships set to get underway from Wednesday, the struggling Indian shuttlers face an uphill task.
In the women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand won 21-18, 21-19 against the Dutch duo of Debora Jille and Cheryl Seinen. Treesa and Gayatri face Chinese Taipei's Hsu Ya Ching and Lin Wan Ching in the quarter-finals.
India's men's badminton lifted the Thomas Cup title with a commanding 3-0 win over powerhouse Indonesia
Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Monday singled out world number one doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as favourites for an Olympic medal and said two-time medallist PV Sindhu too is on the right path and can deliver once again at the Paris Games.
The Indian duo ran-up a 7-2 lead early on, before entering the break at 11-7. Satwik and Chirag continued to move ahead and eventually grabbed the opening game.
The unseeded Indian duo stunned local favourites Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen 21-19, 21-15 in a 43-minute quarter-final clash.
Sindhu dished out a compact game to outwit Sayaka 21-17, 21-16 in a second round match on Thursday to set up a clash with seventh seeded Chinese He Bingjiao.
Thomas Cup final: India vs Indonesia
Srikanth, now ranked five, was placed seventh before the Malaysia Open, where he lost his last-four clash to the reigning Asian champion Kento Momota.
India thus finished a fantastic badminton campaign with three gold, one silver and two bronze.
India's final tally in Hangzhou stood at 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze, a quantum leap from the 70 medals the contingent bagged at Jakarta in 2018.
Already through to the quarter-finals, defending champions India continued their rampaging run as they beat Australia 4-1 in their final group A match of mixed team competition at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who is returning from an ankle injury, begins her campaign against former World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the first round of Malaysia Open.
It was a mixed day for India in the All England Championship as Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichanda clinched a stunning win, while Lakshya Sen crashed out.
He was clearly disappointed to miss out the Indian Open title, but star Indian shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on Sunday said "losing is better than winning always" and hoped the defeat in the final will spur him and his doubles partner Chirag Shetty to win a bigger crown in coming days.
Home favourites Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down in a tense final against world champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Sang Jae at India Open, settling for their second successive runners-up finish, in New Delhi on Sunday.
The players will get tested again for the second time on Monday.
The top Indian players, including Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to lift the prestigious trophy
India's women shuttlers assured themselves of a maiden Badminton Asia Team Championships medal by cruising to a 3-0 win over Hong Kong in the quarter-finals.
PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals of Badminton Asia Championships
Two-time Olympics medallist P V Sindhu opted out citing post-Olympics recovery.
Rio Olympic silver medallist Sindhu, who made early exits at the China Open and Korea Open, dropped to the 6th spot after five months and the former World No 2 shuttler will look to make amends at the Denmark Open and French Open.
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will meet compatriot HS Prannoy in his opening match, while former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will square off against a qualifier.
If Sindhu and Saina win their respective second round matches, they will face each other in the quarter-finals.
India's shuttlers enjoyed a mixed day at the Australian Open Super Series as Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth progressed to the second round but four others were knocked out in the first round itself, in Sydney, on Wednesday.
Indian men's team failed to defend its title after going down fighting 1-3 to China
BAI General Secretary Ajay Singhania said that BAI is in receipt of the letter from the shuttler.
Sindhu beat fourth seeded Blichfeldt 22-20, 21-10 in 43 minutes
The Indian women's badminton team crashed out of the Uber Cup after losing to Japan in the quarter-finals in Aarhus, Denmark on Thursday while the men completed their group engagements in the Thomas Cup with a defeat to China.
India have been drawn with top seeds and defending champions China, Thailand and hosts Finland for the upcoming Sudirman Cup badminton tournament, making it a tough Group A for the side to negotiate.
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