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We’ll have Indians in action in the India Open badminton, but the main story of the day will be whether the Indian women’s hockey team can defeat Japan and seal their berth at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Oh, and there’s also a good old Kolkata derby to look forward to at the Super Cup.
This blog will be updated throughout the day, so keep checking back for updates and analysis.
Here are the key updates from January 19, Friday:
Satwik-Chirag are also through to semis
Despite the lateness of the hour, or maybe because of it, the attack mode is on from the get go as Satwik-Chirag start with a 4-0 lead in a quick burst of points. They stretch that lead to a massive 11-3 at the mid game interval, dominating from the front court at the net. Chirag gets some treatment on his right knee at 12-4.
That doesn’t affect the pace of play though as the Indians take a whopping 19-6 lead and close it out 21-7 in 16 minutes. The key in the first game was the swift and strong hold in the mid-court region which meant constant return of the shuttle, which went for winners or forced errors.
The second game starts in a pattern similar to the first, with the Indians leading 6-2 but the Danes pull back for 6-5 by lengthening the rallies and defending more all over the court. In response, SatChi step up the attack and grab five straight points to head into the interval with a comfortable 11-5 lead.
The Danes score a few more points in this game than the first, but the play is on the Indians racquet throughout. The second seeds have 10 match points and they close it out on the first.
Consider this revenge served for the World Championships quarterfinals loss then, something SatChi love to serve.
Prannoy in semifinal
HS Prannoy made it through to the semifinals of the India Open with a rousing 21-11, 17-21, 21-18 win in 77 minutes against Wang Tzu-wei of Chinese Taipei.
The first point of the first game came via a jump smash and the crowd went wild. Prannoy soon raced to a 10-3 lead with quick, positive points. Leading 11-4 at the interval with a slew of winners flowing from his racquet, it looked like the game plan was set – take charge of the points, force the play on his racquet, go for the lines and find the winners. The tactic worked for the Indian 8th seed as he took a massive lead at 18-5. Wang, with a strapped left quad, didn’t have a lot of answers at the start but he found some rhythm towards the end and coupled with a few long shots from Prannoy and winners from his end, he made it six straight points. A net cord ended that streak and while Wang got frustrated, he got another net cord against him to go down game points. Prannoy clinched it on the first, 21-11.
As expected, the second game was much closer. Wang ztsarted with a 2-0 lead but Prannoy drew level with a superb down the line smash that sent the crowd info a frenzy. The rallies got longer and more dynamic as both tried to write dictate play by pushing the other around the court. Neither were able to build a sizeable lead till Wang pulled ahead and went into the interval with a handy 11-6 lead. Prannoy started chipping away at the lead, reducing it to 2 points several times. In came the fist pumps and roars to psych himself up as Prannoy began to stay in the shot-studded, testing rallies. But Wang found his range and got 3 game points with a straight body smash and Prannoy gave it to him by smashing outside the line.
The third game started like the second, close and with engaging rallies with both trying to direct play. Prannoy had to catch up for 5-5 but Wang zoomed ahead to 10-5 with depth and defence in rallies. Prannoy then stepped up the attack with a quick burst of 4 straight winners but it was Wang who went into the interval 11-9 ahead. The final phase of the match began with a rousing cheer from the crowd for Prannoy. Wang was varying pace and power on his shots and Prannoy wasn’t able to take charge of the rallies. Prannoy had to play catch up as he fell 3 points behind at 14-11. He did just that in a thrilling passage of play, equalling at 14-14 – for the first time since 5-5 – and then for 15-15 and 16-16 before taking the lead at 17-16 with a quick cross court smash, and then he hit a soft winner from mid court to get closer to the finish line. He got two match points with another smashing winner and convered with another winner smack in the open court to ensure India had singles representation in the semis.
MAJOR NEWS IN THE HOCKEY: INDIA WILL MISS THE OLYMPICS
India’s women’s hockey team will miss the flight to Paris after a 0-1 loss to Japan in their third place playoff in the Olympic qualifiers tournament held in Ranchi. Aaditya Narayan has the details here.
PKL: Bengaluru Bulls, Patna Pirates pick up wins
Their home leg of this PKL season began in much the same way as the rest of the season for the Telugu Titans, as they lost by 16 points to the Bengaluru Bulls for their 12 loss in 13 games this season. Their points difference now stands at a dismal -157.
In the other match of the day, UP Yoddhas also continued their miserable losing run in this season, as they lost a close match to the Patna Pirates, going down 34-31.
Super Cup: East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan SG 3-1 to qualify for semifinal
East Bengal will play the semifinals of the Super Cup after a Cleiton Silva brace inspired them to a 3-1 win in the big Kolkata derby over their rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant.
Hector Yuste gave Bagan the lead in the 19th minute, but East Bengal hit back five minutes later through Cleiton. In the second half, Nandhakumar Sekar gave East Bengal the lead, before Cleiton made sure of the win.
Bopanna-Ebden through to third round of Australian Open
After a tough first round match where they were pushed right down to the write, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden sailed through their second round match against the Australian pair of John Millman and Edward Winter, as they prevailed in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.
Second seeds Bopanna and Ebden barely broke a sweat and will now face 14th seeds Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic in the third round.
Super Cup
Meanwhile in domestic football action, Sreenidi Deccan have thwacked Hyderabad FC. Carlos Pinto’s men scored via Ibrahim Sissoko, Eli Sabia, Lalromawai and Kean Lewis before Makan Winkle Chothe pulled back a consolation late on. The first three Sreenidi goals in this first edition of a new Hyderabad derby came inside ten minutes!
The result leaves Hyderabad marooned at the bottom of the table with 0 points in 3 matches and a GD of -5. East Bengal and Mohun Bagan have already sealed the top two spots (six points each, Sreenidi are on three now) and they will face each other to determine the group winner. Kickoff is at 7.30 PM
Igor Stimac reacts to India’s 3-0 loss to Uzbekistan
India head coach Igor Stimac rued injuries to players, but said he was proud of his team despite the defeat.
“It was an exciting game. Congratulations to Uzbekistan. They deserve to win this game. They could score a few more, but we could score a few too. If we take the goals away, which were caused again by our silly mistakes, I could be (proud) even with the performance, with the intention, with trying, with composure, with passing,” Stimac said in the post-match press conference.
He reiterated that losing many key players together created difficulties for them in such a significant competition apart from facing high quality opposition.
“But at the moment, this is our reality without too many key players. We lost Lallianzuala Chhangte prior to this game. Liston Colaco, who got a fever, was doing really well at the training sessions, but options were limited, to be honest. And it is obvious that strength and speed (of the opponents) are causing us problems at this level. So, we need to work on ourselves and take the positives out of everything. We are a growing team, and learning from lessons like this will give us good momentum in the future,” he said.
India need a miracle to progress at the AFC Asian Cup
The Indian football team’s 0-3 loss to Uzbekistan last evening severely dented their chances of making it past the group stages. Igor Stimac’s men have lost both their opening matches and will play their final group stage game against Syria on January 23rd.
Can they still qualify? Theoretically, they can still qualify as one of the four best third-placed teams. But for that to happen, the Indians need to first beat Syria and then pray and hope that they can sneak through as one of the best third-placed teams. If you missed last night’s game, here’s a recap for you.
India ���� 0-3 ���� Uzbekistan | Match Highlights | #AsianCup2023 ��#INDvUZB ⚔️ #BlueTigers �� #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/aWPQ1yQlh1
– Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) January 19, 2024
Aus Open: Balaji-Cornea through to second round
Sriram Balaji and Victor Cornea, who had gotten a last-minute entry into the Australian Open men’s doubles main draw, have gone past their first hurdle. They beat the Italian duo of Mattero Arnaldi and Andrea Pellegrino 6-3, 6-4 to set up a second-round clash with the 10th seeds – Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic.
The other Indian in the men’s doubles, Rohan Bopanna, will be in action later this afternoon alongside his partner Mathew Ebden.
Another chance for India’s hockey team
The Indian women’s hockey team lost to Germany in the Olympic qualifiers yesterday, but they have another shot at sealing their berth at the Paris Olympics. What do they have to do? Beat Japan in the third-place playoff. Interestingly, the last time the two sides met was in the bronze medal play-off at the Asian Games and the Indians secured a 2-1 win. Can they do it again? Here’s all you need to know about today’s match – India’s Olympic dream not over despite heartbreaking semifinal loss to Germany
What’s in store today?
Plenty of sporting action today –
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Women’s Hockey Olympic Qualifier third-place play-off: India vs Japan – 4.30 pm
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India Open: HS Prannoy and Satwik-Chirag in action – likely to be post 6pm
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Super Cup: Kolkata derby as Mohun Bagan Super Giant face East Bengal – 7:30 pm
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Rohan Bopanna and partner Mathew Ebden will play against Edward Winter and John Millman in the second round of the Australian Open – around 12:30 pm
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The Hyderabad leg of the PKL gets underway as Telugu Titans clash with Bengaluru Bulls (8pm), while Patna Pirates face UP Yoddhas (9pm)
What happened yesterday?
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India lost via a shootout to Germany in the women’s hockey Olympic qualifier semifinal
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The Indian men’s football team was beaten 3-0 by Uzbekistan in the AFC Asian Cup
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Sumit Nagal lost in the second round of the Australian Open to Chinese teenager Juncheng Shang, while Bopanna-Ebden made it to round two
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IWL: Odisha FC beat East Bengal 4-1
You can check all the details of yesterday’s news events, here.
