PV Sindhu didn't take the court but her replacement Anupama Upadhyaya didn't show any nerves in her win over Tiffany Ho. The second choice doubles pairings - Dhruv Kapila -MR Arjun & Ashwini Ponappa-Tanisha Crasto also won their matches. These were the only consolation picks from India's 4-1 win over Australia in the final pool game of the Sudirman Cup. There was never a doubt in India's reasonable depth but questions will be asked of India's disappointing showing in this edition of the mixed team world championship. After their 1-4 loss to Chinese Taipei in the first league game, India lost 5-0 to Malaysia. The scoreline didn't have the cloak of respectability despite the presence of singles stars, Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth; or the top doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty in the Indian line-up. BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra didn't read too much in the loss. "It was not as per our expectations, but it's ok. It's all in the game. This team is one of the best, and the same team can beat anyone in the world. But it was not our day," Mishra told The Indian Express. "They couldn't perform. I'm sure the seniors will make a comeback. They are experienced but couldn't deliver on the day. It happens to the best. It's a lean patch, but thankfully all are fit, so I'm sure they'll be back soon." Poor form in the run-up Sudirman competition always pits you against the best and not Nos 2 and 3 like the Thomas Uber Cup, and in one way the expectations of India doing well were grand, given the form of singles players over the last few months. Prannoy, the only one with some semblance of consistency, played a flat game against Chou Tien Chen, a Top 5 staple, while Lee Zii Jia was in supreme touch against Kidambi Srikanth. Both matches went by ranking, and it was only the untempered expectations that caused the surprise at those losses. Sindhu's loss against Malaysia's Goh Jin Wei was curious but then Sindhu of late has shown vulnerability against upcoming players. In the Madrid Masters final recently, she lost to Gregoria's Mariska Tunjung. The glut of errors against Goh Jin Wei in the second set though, was remarkably surprising, and by the time she launched her comeback in the third, it was 20-20, a phase of the game prone to going this way or that. And as luck would have it, Sindhu couldn't pull off the win. There were great expectations from the doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag, however they were up against tough opponents - Taiwan had one half the Olympic champions against Malaysia, they were up against the world champions. The losses were disappointing but not surprising since they followed recent trends. Treesa-Gayatri won against a lower ranked pairing, and lost to a higher ranked combine. Unlike the Thomas Cup, none could punch above their weight at the Sudirman. The only solace was a winning start for Anupama Upadhyaya internationally against the Australians. "Yes, Anupama was there. But we need more juniors in the team, in fact we are planning to start an exclusive juniors centre at Guwahati to train them," Mishra said. Indian badminton has no personnel ready for transition from juniors to seniors, so even if disappointing, the seniors will see out the Olympic qualification year. Mishra insists the Sudirman failure was a one-off, not the start of an enduring trend.
