Despite its steady march to the top of the game in the past decade, the Indian bench is now losing steam, with no young stars to inspire us as PV Sindhu’s generation of players did
As for the men’s doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (right) and Chirag Shetty (left), a lingering stomach injury to the latter prevented the duo from strutting their stuff at the 2025 Sudirman Cup; There is a demoralising absence of stars on the horizon, such as PV Sindhu, who has achieved all there is to be achieved; On the individual front, the top performance in recent times was Lakshya Sen’s showing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Pics/Getty Images
Three years ago, Indian badminton was sitting on top of the world. The Thomas Cup, a symbol of men’s team supremacy in international badminton, was firmly in its grasp for the first time in its history, following a thumping 3-0 title triumph over 14-time champion Indonesia in 2022.
Yet, when defending the crown in 2024, the Indians failed to cross the quarter-final stage, and ended the tournament in the 5-to-8 bracket, with a shattering 1-3 loss to China in the quarter-finals in Chengdu. They had squeaked into the last-eight stage with wins over Thailand and England, but capitulated to Indonesia.
It was clear that the Indians had lost steam from the highs of 2022. HS Prannoy took the first game from Shi Yu Qi, but was outplayed in the next two. The crack doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty wrested the second game from the World No.1 pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, but were passengers in the decider.
Lakshya Sen brought India briefly back into the reckoning with a fighting three-game triumph over his nemesis in the junior ranks, Li Shi Feng. However, the defending champions were barely on the board in the second doubles, with Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek going down without a whimper to He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu.
Hosts China took the coveted trophy at the expense of Indonesia, with the usual suspects, Japan and South Korea, being losing semi-finalists.
The inexperienced Indian women’s team, without top player PV Sindhu, were also eliminated by Japan in the quarter-finals of the Uber Cup. After knocking out Canada and Singapore in the group encounters, they had nothing to show against the overwhelming all-round superiority of the Japanese.
In the recent Sudirman Cup mixed team championships in Xiamen, India were eliminated in the quarter-finals, the same stage they had reached in 2011 and 2017. China and Korea contested the final, with the hosts ending up winners.
The Indians have never won the trophy, and were eliminated at the group stage this time, losing to Indonesia and Denmark, and claiming a consolation win over England. Much had been expected of flag-bearer Sindhu, but the lanky Indian disappointed, losing to Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and Denmark’s Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in the ties that could have made a difference to the ultimate result.
On the individual front, the top performance in recent times was Lakshya Sen’s showing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, when he knocked out world-class players like Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie and Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen, before crashing into the semi-finals.
The young Indian had a 20-16 lead against the World No.1 and defending Olympic champion, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, in the first game of the semi-final, before he unravelled mentally, and surrendered his chance of being a contender for the gold medal. Again, in the play-off for bronze medal, he was in full control against Malaysian hard-hitter, Lee Zii Jia, before going totally off the boil, and being eliminated.
This history of recent losses in major events begs the question — what ails Indian badminton, which had a steady march to the top in the decade preceding the high point of 2022, the Thomas Cup triumph? Is there a problem with the country’s badminton infrastructure? Is there a lack of quality coaching? Is there a shortage of funds for the development of the sport?
The answer to all these questions is a resounding no. With adequate funds being allotted to badminton, the country is able to attract the best coaches in the business, and has been building a network of academies under Badminton Association of India Vice-President, Pullela Gopi Chand, all over the country.
A major issue is the ageing of the players who had taken India to the top in recent years, and a demoralising absence of stars on the horizon. Sindhu, who has achieved all there is to be achieved, including the world championship title and two Olympic medals, is into her 30th year, was married a few months ago, and does not look like a player who has either the ability or the hunger for further laurels.
The second rung of players behind Sindhu — Malvika Bansod, Anupama Upadhyay, Aakarshi Kashyap, Unnati Hooda, Anmol Kharb, Tanya Hemanth, Tasnim Mir, et al — is no match yet to the players churned out by the conveyor belts of China, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and Denmark.
There is some hope for the two women’s doubles pairs of Treesa Jolly–Gayatri Gopichand and Shruti Mishra–Priya Konjengbam, but they are still streets behind the well-drilled combinations trotted out by Japan and China. The deterioration in the performance of Ashwini Ponnappa due to age has caused stagnation in her promising combination with the talented Tanisha Crasto.
Among the men, it is unfortunate that “comeback man” Prannoy remains our best and most consistent player, since the Kerala-born man will turn 33 in July. At 32, Kidambi Srikanth, who was briefly at the top of the men’s singles world rankings in 2017, is also well past his prime.
Twenty-three-year-old Sen, who was thought by no less a person than Axelsen to be a serious contender for the World’s No.1 slot, should be fast approaching his prime. However, he has suffered from inconsistency, and has also been at the receiving end of an age fraud case, where he has been charged in the Karnataka High Court with being two years older than he has shown himself to be. This problem, at the back of the mind, can cause immense mental trauma.
As for the men’s doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, they have been there, seen that. The two were first ranked world No. 1 in October 2023, after their gold medal win at the Hangzhou Asian Games. They briefly lost the top spot, but reclaimed it in January 2024, following runner-up finishes in the China Masters, Malaysia Open and India Open. They also won the French Open 2024.
A lingering stomach injury to Shetty prevented the two from strutting their stuff at the 2025 Sudirman Cup; and over the past few months, other doubles pairs in the world have improved their own performances. The left-handed Seo Seung-jae looks a fabulous player, who could vie for the World No.1 spot in both men’s and mixed doubles, and follow in the footsteps of compatriots Park Joo Bong and Lee Yong Dae.
With the wily Mathias Boe retiring from coaching them after the Paris Olympics, India’s top doubles combination faces a difficult haul to the top of the heap. There is also no really good pair with whom they can spar regularly. Dhruv Kapila is promising, but is still some way behind his fellow-countrymen; as are the likes of Hariharan Amsakarunan–Ruban Kumar and Pruthvi Roy–Sai Pratheek.
The crux of India’s badminton problem is the ageing of Gopichand’s brigade — the players who have carried the Indian flag at the international level over the past decade. It is time to look beyond the old stars, and launch the cycle of rebuilding the national squads — an exercise carried out with so much success by China and Korea.
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