Prannoy’s Terminator act, Ayush Shetty’s 42-point run — India lose 2-3 against China in Thomas Cup

India would finish second in the group after Prannoy was done with Guangzu — his court skills and tactical acumen that has downed Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei and Viktor Axelsen in their respective last World Championships, blazing through, like a comet’s glorious tail. At his peak, from 2021-24, Prannoy had mastered the rope-a-dope trick, of the great Ali.

He lost the first set 20-22 after being 20-16 up, and Guangzu had his tail up. In the second he was 17-19 down — two points away from a tame loss. But pulled out 4 of the most gorgeously well-constructed points, on a trot, to push a decider. The commentators even spent considerable time, discussing how tired he was. But there’s a Djokovic, a Dhoni, a creaking, resurrected Arnie Schwarzenegger-like Terminator, in him, before he demolishes opponents in deciders.

When Satwik-Chirag who had first struggled, then figured out their serve-returns, then led 16-12 in the decider only to allow Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 5 match points, were saving the said fifth match point, Prannoy was on his feet in the stands, almost simulating their returns, desperately willing them on. But India went 0-2 down. Lakshya Sen couldn’t stub out Li Shifeng after misses in the first set, and a fade out in the third to lose 19-21, 21-8, 12-21, despite prevailing in longer rallies and being the more cerebral on court.

At 19-all in the decider, Satwik-Chirag and Liang-Wang, who have long battled on big stages, were all equally nervous, and terribly error-prone.

While Satwik is showing signs of facing the spinny serves head-on, the duo remain extremely vulnerable in crunch situations, not backing their attack to do its thing. They look haunted in the first three strokes — serve, return and return of return — but considerably prepared for the flat games their opponents are drawing them into. A little sharpness, and easy nerves, could do the trick after this 13-21, 21-13, 24-26 loss.

Ayush fetched India its first point of the Thomas Cup group tie against China (Badminton Photo)

But what might have propelled the urge to fight back against the Chinese for Prannoy, was Ayush Shetty going up against Weng Hong Yang. In sum total, this was winnable, and Prannoy knew it. India’s form player, making waves since the Asian Championships final, Ayush wasn’t unduly bothered by the Chinese southpaw who hits clean and deep and is accurate. But Ayush did not deploy his full blooded attack against the World No.15. He used the dread and sting of the attack (routinely averaging 430 kph in smashes), to set up net kills.

After losing the opener, he unfurled all his wonderful deceptions at the net, including the backhand curlers that skimmed over the meshing, completely boggling Weng. There were plenty disguises from the back court too, as he sliced and half smashed and dropped. But it was from the net that he troubled Weng, his racquet skills lacing the power devastatingly.

Getting a hang of Weng’s game, Ayush went the next 42 points without conceding the lead — one trick after another.

Flame of resistance

Ayush’s win had lit the flame of resistance in Prannoy. Winning the second singles — back in 2022 it was Kidambi Srikanth — was always the cue for Prannoy that the fight was on. On Wednesday, Srikanth was in his coaching chair this time, as the two seasoned foxes, dissected Lu Guangzu, who didn’t know what hit him in the third. It was the resurrected Terminator, saying, I’m Back. To those who were oblivious to India’s 2022 Thomas Cup triumph, to those who had unfortunately scrolled past how Prannoy used to break 2-2 deadlocks in favour of India.

Lakshya Sen later put the tie into perspective telling BWF, “Had my chances in first game. Started well to win second. Kept in mind to not give Shifeng easy short lifts and the opportunities to finish. China was our first strong opponent. There was no pressure from coaches to win matches, because we had already qualified for quarters (on Friday). (Winning tournament is the target). We are looking to get into momentum and give our 100 percent.”

Back in India, senior coach Vimal Kumar would laud Ayush’s composure in crucial stages with maturity beyond his years, and add, “Very impressive display from Prannoy — in fact, he could easily have wrapped it up in straight games. This is the sharpest he’s looked in quite some time, and it’s a great sign for the team. Yes, we went down 3–2 to China in a gruelling six-hour battle, but there are plenty of positives to take forward. Performances like this build belief. Now the focus shifts to Japan. With a day’s rest, this is a great opportunity to reset and come back stronger. If our three singles players click together, and Satwik–Chirag deliver as they can, we have every chance to turn it our way. Time to regroup, recharge, and go all out.”