India shuttlers clinch women's Asia team championships title

Social media posts of India's male shuttlers on reaching Malaysia for the Badminton Asia Team Championships were going viral a week back. As the Thomas Cup champions, all eyes of the badminton world were on them.

- Sandip Sikdar

Led by PV Sindhu, the women too put out similar posts, but they never gained similar traction. It was understandable. Twice Olympic medallist Sindhu was returning from a four-month injury layoff, and barring Ashwini Ponnappa, most of the team was young Tanvi Sharma, the youngest, is 15 - with barely any international experience.

Yet this unheralded women's team showed incredible maturity to stand atop the rostrum in Shah Alam on Sunday after India beat Thailand 3-2 in the final to clinch the biennial title for the first time since its inception in 2016.

India, who beat the top three seeds China, Japan and Thailand, rode on the shoulders of Sindhu, Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand and 17-year-old Anmol Kharb on Sunday to deliver the gold and put India in good stead heading for the Uber Cup in Chengdu, China.

"Anmol's fearlessness stands out. She's gritty and her attitude is perfect for team championships. She has no international experience and was picked in the team because she is our national champion. She in fact lost the finals of the junior nationals before winning the senior title," national selector U Vimal Kumar said. "In team matches there's so much pressure and she enjoys it; that helped her win the crucial matches."