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Anmol Kharb starred once again as India scripted history by winning the gold medal at the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024.
After Sindhu’s spectacular start to the tie, the doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand added to India’s advantage by defeating Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai to give India a 2-0 lead.
Thailand fought back to level terms, but it was 17-year-old Anmol Kharb who was the hero once again, beating the much higher-ranked World No. 45 Pornpicha Choeikeewong to help the Indian women’s team win their first medal at the prestigious continental championships.
A closer look at India’s women’s team's final against Thailand at the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024
Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu kicked off the tie for India. The highly experienced shuttler, who is returning from a knee injury she suffered back in October last year, took on Thailand’s Supanida Katethong.
The encounter against Katethong saw Sindhu win her third match from the four she has played in this tournament. The 28-year-old Indian shuttler took just under 40 minutes to dispatch the World No. 17 in straight games with a score of 21-12, 21-12.
In the second match of the tie, All England semifinalists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand faced off against the World No. 10 Thai pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai. Building on Sindhu’s momentum, the young shuttlers from India took the first game 21-16. However, the pair from Thailand fought back to level terms, winning the second set 18-21.
The third game saw long rallies and solid defense from all four players, but Jolly and Gopichand held their nerves and wrapped up the match with an identical score to that of the first game. The final score of the one-hour, thirteen-minute match was 21-16, 18-21, 21-16 in favor of the Indian duo. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand continued their incredible run in the team event tournaments for India with this win.
With the win in the doubles match, India had a 2-0 advantage over Thailand and sat just one win away from a historic gold at the Badminton Asia Team Championships. Ashmita Chaliha, who played some phenomenal badminton in the semifinals, beating former world champion Nozomi Okuhara in straight games, faced off against Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungpham in the third match of the tie.
The young shuttler from Assam started proceedings in a little shaky manner, going down 11-21 in the first game. However, the 25-year-old found her footing in the second set, but it was not enough to battle the World No. 18 from Thailand, who proved to be too strong for Chaliha. The final score of the match was 11-21, 14-21 in favor of Ongbamrungpham.
In the fourth match of the tie, India could not field their first-choice pair for the doubles game, Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, as the latter suffered a small niggle earlier in the tournament. The Indian contingent experimented by playing PV Sindhu alongside Ashwini Ponnappa in the semifinals, but the vast difference in the style of singles and doubles saw Sindhu struggling with footwork and coordination.
Instead, Indian national champions Shruti Mishra and Priya Konjengbam were seen in action, taking on sisters Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard. Mishra and Konjengbam gave a fight, but the World No. 13 Thai pair were too dominant in all aspects, comfortably beating the inexperienced duo from India in straight games with a score of 11-21, 9-21.
The last and deciding match of the tie saw the hero from the semifinals, Anmol Kharb, up against Thailand’s Pornpicha Choeikeewong. The young girl from Haryana has been playing some fearless badminton over the last few days, beating China’s Wu Luo Yu and Japan’s Natsuki Nidaria in the deciding match of the tie.
The 17-year-old Indian shuttler started off the match strongly, playing an incredibly stable game against the World No. 45 from Thailand. Like her previous encounters in the tournament, Kharb did not let the big occasion or stature of her opponent faze her, and the young shuttler stuck to her defensive style of play.
She continued to play long rallies, frustrating her opponent and forcing a mistake from her. Despite being much less experienced than her Thai counterpart, Kharb comfortably got the better of her, beating her 21-14, 21-9 in 43 minutes, helping India win their first medal in the women’s team championship at the Badminton Asia Team Championships.
India has only won a bronze medal on two previous occasions (2016 and 2020) at the continental events, courtesy of the men’s team.
