Written by : Vikas Ratanjee
The edge-of-the-seat excitement that Indian badminton players have been providing us for the past many years has generated another level of interest in the sport in India.
There is also a certain romanticism in seeing badminton as a sport where not only south-east Asian nations dominate, but we as Indians are performing as well.
Some high-profile Indian badminton players have become household names in India because of their achievements in badminton over the years.
Who can forget the tense moments when PV Sindhu came close to winning her first badminton gold for India in Rio Olympics when she gave two-time World Champion and World no-1 Marin a run for her money? It was adrenaline-rushing stuff back then.
Many of us following that match had our hearts in our mouths!
More recently, the exploits of Lakshya Sen at the All-England Championship, where he was a finalist and at the Thomas Cup have been unbelievable!
Performance at Hylo Open
The HYLO Open held in Germany from November 1 to November 6 in Saarlandhalle, Saarbrücken, Germany, was one of the world tour events held recently.
The total prize money for the tournament was US$150,000.
The best performances by Indian players at the Hylo Open came from Kidambri Srikanth in the men’s draw along with the pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand in the women’s double draw; both reached the semi-finals.
Ginting from Indonesia is also the player who beat Srikanth in the semi-finals at the commonwealth games this year, coming from behind and managing some incredible stroke play.
At the HYLO Open semi-finals, Kidambi did have a narrow 11-9 lead over Ginting in the first set but could not hold on to that advantage and was beaten 21-18 and 21-15 by him. Ginting used powerful smashes to subdue any of Kidambi’s moves and hopes for a comeback.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost to Benyapa Aimsaardand Nyntakam Aimsaard in the women’s semi-final.
The 2022 Commonwealth games Bronze Medal winning pair Treesa and Gayatri led most of the first and third games, but losing six back-to-back points cost them the match.
Other Indian stars like London 2012 bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and India’s top-ranked men’s singles player Lakshya Sen crashed out early in the tournament.
Attention now shifts to the Australian Open 2022 BWF Super 300 tournament to be held in November, where the Indians will be participating.
