SHAH ALAM, Feb 18 — The Indian women's team created a sensation by clinching the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) 2024 title after edging Thailand 3-2 in a fiercely contested final at the Setia City Convention Centre today.
The country's top women's singles shuttler Pusarla V. Sindhu started the final in blistering form, only needing 39 minutes to overcome Supanida Katethong in 21-12 and 21-12.
However, Tressa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, who won the first set against Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai in 21-16, had to fight hard in their match which was dragged into the decider before giving India the second point with scores of 18-21 and 21-16.
Thailand's second singles player Busanan Ongbamrungphan posed a threat to India's solid position as the world No. 18 defeated Ashmita Chaliha 21-11 and 21-14, before India's women's doubles pair Priya Konjengbam-Shruti Mishra were also defeated by the sibling pair of Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard in 11-21 and 9-21..
Meanwhile, the young player Anmol Kharb (ranked 472nd in the world) once again emerged as the hero for India, displaying a stunning performance to defeat Pornpicha Choeikeewong 21-14 and 21-9 to clinch the title.
Meanwhile, Anmol, the national champion of 2023, said the victory was also influenced by the aura brought by Indian team coach Pullela Gopichand, who is considered to have rendered much service and dedication to them.
"He is like the father of badminton in India so its like a big thing for me, because everybody (thinks) he's the god of Indian badminton. So I am happy that he is sitting behind me.
"Being at BATC 2024 gave me a good experience because everyone is a senior player and higher-ranked player, so this is also an achievement," she said, adding that winning at the BATC was significant for her at the age of 17.
Anmol said the success of defeating two world-class teams, China and Japan, in the group stage (February 14) and the semi-finals yesterday (February 17), respectively, had instilled high confidence in the team to fight until the end.
She also expressed confidence that this success would spread in her country and bring a proud smile to badminton fans in India.
"Yesterday also got crazy (viral in India) like people said we play realy good and (beat) powerhouses like Japan and China so things like today will be full celebrations in India," she said.
The title was the first for the Indian women's team, while the men's team had previously won two medals in 2016 and 2020, both of which were bronze.
However, the men's team from India stumbled 2-3 against Japan in the quarterfinals of BATC 2024.
— Bernama
