New Delhi, Indian badminton stalwart H S Prannoy on Tuesday said that Lakshya Sen’s elbow injury and his absence from the semifinal against France in the just-concluded Thomas Cup proved decisive, dealing a major blow to the 2022 champions’ chances of reaching the final in Denmark.
Lakshya was ruled out of the semifinal with a swollen right elbow, sustained during an intense, bruising 90-minute quarterfinal against Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei. Young Ayush Shetty replaced Lakshya, taking on Christo Popov in a strategic reshuffle, but India slumped to a 0-3 defeat against France to settle for a bronze in Horsens, Denmark.
“I think Lakshya kind of not being there in the semifinals definitely made the biggest difference for us out there because eventually it’s a team event where the rankings matter and the top players kind of played against the top players,” said Prannoy during an interaction facilitated by the Sports Authority of India.
“And, obviously, Lakshya pulling off such a huge match against Tien-chen… I think he was gaining in confidence and probably a match against Popov would have turned the tables on the positive side. I believe, Lakshya would have beaten Popov and getting into the next game, Ayush would have definitely gotten that win against Alex for us,” opined Prannoy, one of the architects of India’s historic maiden Thomas Cup triumph in 2022.
The 33-year-old Prannoy added that team events often hinge on a single result, and Ayush’s opening loss to Christo Popov likely dealt a significant blow to India.
“I think team events is just a matter of one win, which kind of turns the entire tables… and obviously we had to get that one win against France which could have eventually gotten us a chance to play the fourth and fifth match.”
Prannoy said India could have turned the tie in their favour had it stretched to a fourth or fifth match, where the country’s formidable doubles line-up would likely have dominated proceedings.
“Definitely, we were stronger as a team if the tie had gone to the fourth and fifth match. So I still believe that if Lakshya had been in the semifinal for us, things would have been different.
“But, I think it’s unfortunate that he couldn’t play. He was down with an injury and I think we had to respect that considering that it was such a big tournament and he had already done his job getting us that big win against Chou Tien-chen ,” he added.
India’s top doubles player Chirag Shetty suggested that the Thomas Cup format where players can feature in both singles and doubles ended up hurting India in the semifinal, with the singles-first order proving counterproductive.
He pointed out that the early singles losses, compounded by Lakshya’s absence, left the team chasing the tie from the outset, denying India’s strong doubles lineup the platform to influence the outcome.
“It a very extraordinary situation because there hasn’t been a strong playing nation who puts a singles player in their doubles matches as well. All the major countries never do that.
“And to have France, who have really strong singles players also playing doubles…It’s a very extraordinary situation. As per the rule book, the one who plays singles as well as doubles has to play their singles matches first and then play doubles. It was a very unfortunate situation that our match didn’t really come because of the first three singles matches France .”
Lakshya getting better after injury
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Lakshya, on his part, said he is getting better, adding that he has undergone scans after returning from Denmark to assess the extent of the damage and plan his upcoming competition schedule.
“The injury is getting better now but I have just come back last night and I did some scans in the mornings as well. I will now go to the doctor and then have a word with him and then decide on how to go about the tournaments.
“I’m supposed to play the Thailand Open next week, but again still waiting for the confirmation from the doctor as I’ve taken the MRI scans now so just waiting for his opinion on that and then we’ll get a clearer idea on the tournament,” added Lakshya.
Chirag put off by lukewarm reception
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Chirag appeared slightly disappointed by the muted reception on his return to India after the bronze-medal feat, posting on Instagram that no one cares about achievements back home.
“Back home now. As usual, no one knows what happened over the past two weeks, and it seems like no one really cares,” wrote Chirag on Instagram.
“I think I never expected someone to come at the airport and receive us but having said that, I think last time when we won the Thomas Cup, I think a lot of people… we did get a reception. I think the way it should have been celebrated, it didn’t get celebrated as much by the fans. I guess we did the people who actually watched badminton and know about the sport ,” said Chirag.
“They knew how big the tournament it was, but the general public, I feel was still very… didn’t really know the magnitude of the result and that sometimes really makes me sad. I think there’s plenty more that we need to do,” concluded Chirag.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
