India picked up a consolation 4-1 win against Australia in their final group match at the Sudirman Cup 2023, held at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre in China on Wednesday.
This victory was too little too late as India had already crashed out of the tournament after losing to Chinese Taipei (4-1) and Malaysia (5-0).
Since India had no hopes of progressing to the quarterfinals, the team management decided to field a second-string team against Australia. Notable players such as PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, and the men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were given rest for the tie.
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In the mixed doubles match, Sai Prateek and Tanisha Crasto represented India against Australia's Kenneth Zhe Hooi Choo and Gronya Somerville. However, they were defeated in a closely contested match with a score of 17-21, 21-14, 21-18 in favour of the Australian pair.
In the men's singles match, India's HS Prannoy, ranked 7th in the world, faced Australia's Jack Yu. Prannoy was dominant throughout the match, securing a comfortable victory with scores of 21-8, 21-8. This win levelled the score at 1-1.
Anupama Upadhyaya, making her Sudirman Cup debut, represented India in the women's singles match against Australia's Tiffany Ho. Upadhyaya showcased her skills and emerged victorious with scores of 21-16, 21-18, giving India a 2-1 lead.
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Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa beat Kaitlyn EA and Angela Yu 21-19, 21-13 in the women's double match.
Meanwhile, in the men's doubles match, Dhruv Kapila partnered with MR Arjun to beat Australia's Ricky Tang and Rayne Wang with scores of 21-11, 21-12, thereby confirming the 4-1 victory for India in the tie.
It is worth noting that the Sudirman Cup has been a challenging tournament for India as they have never won a medal at the biennial mixed-team badminton event. Their best finishes thus far have been quarter-final appearances in 2011 and 2017.
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