India Sign Off With First-Ever Badminton Team Silver At Asian Games

Injured HS Prannoy's absence hurt India as they went down fighting 2-3 against badminton powerhouse China to sign off with their first-ever silver medal in the men's team championships at the Asian Games on Sunday. After world No. 7 Prannoy was ruled out due to a back injury, Lakshya Sen produced a gutsy show in the first singles and doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then bossed over their opponents to put India 2-0 ahead. So, it was once again left to Srikanth to carry the team on his shoulders. The former world No. 1, who had produced a gritty show against South Korea in the semifinals, couldn't go the distance this time despite a healthy lead and multiple game points as China fought back to make it 1-2.

(Asian Games 2023 Medals Tally | Asian Games 2023 Full Schedule)

The defending champions then won the remaining two matches to maintain their hegemony in the Asian Games.

With Prannoy missing the summit clash due to a back injury, Sen was handed the responsibility of leading the Indian charge.

Sen recovered from a mid-game slump to erase a five-point deficit in the decider and put India ahead with a 22-20 14-21 21-18 win over world No. 6 Shi Yuqi in an 83-minute opening slugfest.

World No. 3 men's doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag then went on a smashing spree to outclass world No 2. Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 21-15 21-18 in 55 minutes to extend the lead to 2-0. Srikanth, however, squandered an 18-14 lead and multiple game points in the first game to go down 22-24 9-21 against All England champion Li Shifeng in the third singles to expose India's weakest link -- the second doubles and third singles matches.

Scratch pair of Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek Krishna Prasad then lost 6-21 15-21 to