August 31, 2025 • 27 mins
This week, hosts Vinayakk Mohanarangan, Shivani Naik and Mihir Vasavda look back at the Badminton World Championships. Satwik and Chirag won their second medal, a re-energised Sindhu continued her dominance over China, Dhruv-Tanisha had a decent run in mixed doubles but Lakshya Sen had another frustrating outing.
Produced by Shashank Bhargava
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Produced by Shashank Bhargava
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello and welcome to Express Sports podcast. You're listening to
Game Time and we come today with a lot of
mixed emotions. I guess there is, of course some sort
of joy that the medal streak at the World Championship
for India continues with Southwick, saidra Junkiddy and Chirakshetti getting
a bronze. There's also a tinge of disappointment that they
(00:24):
couldn't make it to the final. But there's also a
pleasant surprise served by Pevi Sindhu continues to kind of
improve after a troublesome couple of years. And then there
was also a slight bit of surprise for the mixed doubles.
At the same time disappointment in men's singles from Luxure saying,
but a few other performances have kind of balanced it out.
(00:45):
A fun week to follow badminton and to discuss that
we have with us our in house badminton experts. When
at pona Angan, Shiwanni Nike welcome. Who wants to go first?
And where do we start first? I think just because
they won the medal, Shiwani, we should start with Southwick
and Chirag Shiwani. Does the medal make you happy? Or
(01:07):
it leaves you with a sort of regret.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
No, I'm just very greedy, so I always want gold
and they capable of it. But no, it's a happy medal,
you know, after what happened at the Olympics. It's definitely
a happy medal considering the fact that they've beaten to
pairings which they had found difficult in the lead up
to the Olympics and at the Olympics. So it's a
happy medal that way, we should ideally be very content
(01:30):
and whatever. But then no, I mean no harm in
being greedy and you know, wanting to get that gold
like at the next possible opportunity, which would be next year.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I mean, look at China right when we talk about greedy,
they've got people in players in all five medal matches,
gold medal matches. So talk about being greedy and benevolent
Twitter or whatever it is. But Varaika, I mean, Shianni
mentioned the great redemption that Southwick in chiag had more
so because of the personal difficulties they've had to overcome
(02:01):
right post Paris, both of them have had a very
tough time off the court too, and it was nice
to see that a lot of things came together for
them this week after everything that had gone not so
according to plan for the rest of the months.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
I was actually messaging someone before the tournament began, and
one of the things that I mentioned was, I actually
feel good about Chatwi Chiak's draw because it makes sure
that they are dialed in from the word god, like
when we saw that roid is clearly a draw from
hell because they had to face Liang Wang first in
the round of sixteen and then Chia and So in
(02:37):
the quarters, two pairs like Chioanni mentioned have caused them
a lot of troubles, a lot of heartache in the past,
most notably Chia and So at the Paris Olympics last
year at the quarterfinal stage, where they'd be meeting again
this year in Paris. But I had a feeling that
it's good because sometimes these sort of draws tend to
make you alert and prepare probably a little harder, make
(02:58):
sure that you're not easy into the tournament. Even the
first round raw had a Chinese type second round sorry,
the first round is a bye that was quite tricky
to handle Youngko handle. Lefty is a very tricky customer.
So yeah, I think in a way it was good
because they came and they were dialed in from the
word go, and those two wins, I think in respect
you of the slight bittersweet nature of the bronze medal,
(03:19):
right now, I mean I agree with you, and it's
a very happy medal. It's like i'd written, it's not
exactly redemption because I'm sure that if you ask them
whether they would like to beat tyron Cia the quarterfinals
of the Olympics or the quarter finals of the World Championships,
I'm one hundred percent sure they'd say the Olympics. Right,
So it's probably not redemption, but it just puts together
a tough period. I mean, it's a culmination of a
(03:40):
tough period for them, and make sure that you know
it remains everyone that they're still around, is still one
of the best top three four pairs in the world. Yeah,
so those two wins are definitely something worth building on.
But yeah, the semi final, if it left a little
bit of a bitter tastey, and just because they had
a really good start, they were playing well and then
they just came undone by one tactic from the Chinese.
(04:01):
We just they just flick served the flickserve caused a
lot of trouble for the Indians, and it's something that
they need to work on.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
It used to be the tumble serve.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Now I'm guessing they're expecting the tumble serve and then
not being ready for the flick serve. I don't quite
know what's happening, but yeah, that service written situation is
something that definitely need to work on going forward.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
A great point about them also serving a reminder that
they're still around because post Paris, I think there were
a few doubts raised about how far can they co right.
I mean, there were questions they LA is still four
years away, whether they'll still be there, and if they're
there at the whether they'll be at the same form,
same level four years down the line. Southwak. One conversation
(04:39):
I had with him after Paris, he said that twenty
twenty five would be an experimental year for them, new
coach coming in. They both had some ideas which they
wanted to work on. In that sense, twenty twenty five
hours a year they would experiment and we saw that
in the build up to the World Championships and kind
of peaked at the right time. I guess, but Shiani,
what changes do you say, see, if we were to
(05:01):
look at the Chia so much. We'll talk about the
semi finals against the Chinese pair in a bit, but
if we were to compare the two quarterfinals, same players,
same venue, roughly the same month of the year two,
the results were extremely opposite. So what difference did you
notice compared to Paris Olympics?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Okay, So I think one thing we need to sort
of understanders they are following the hole Sindhupath Okay where
she lost a couple of World Championship finals. She also
had two bronzes, and then eventually she worked on every
aspect of the game because every aspect was sort of exposed,
so then she went about plugging those gaps. So it's
the same with Satha Chiag as well. They have come
(05:42):
to grips with the flat game that the Chinese, or
the Malaysians or the Indonations play.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
So yeah, they've really skid up for that. They've learned
new things.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Sutik does tend to play a lot more on the
front court, and like you said, it is still in
an experimental stage that entire rotation routine, but that was
one notable thing they're trying it out and they're sticking
by it because they need to have this flexibility of
either of them playing the front court. So it's not
a finished product yet, so that is good. They are
(06:12):
still learning and they could use it like properly against
both the Chinese as well as the Malaysian pair, and
even against the pair that they lost to in the Semis,
the Chinese Liu and Chin. I think there's like when
I pointed out the flix serve. Now it's frankly something
that caught them by surprise, but it's not something that
(06:35):
cannot be handled. You know, there are solutions very readily
available if they are prepared for it. But then again,
you know that's a gap that will need to be plugged.
So that's how the nature of their career is going
to be. You know, they lose and then they learn
and then come back and beat the same pairs.
Speaker 5 (06:52):
So those are the things that.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
What happens with the flixer. Like if you were to
kind of look at the tumblesow and the flick, so
why is it tricky to kind of handle the clips?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
So see, basically you're trying to gain dominance at the net.
You're trying to attack controls from the net. The entire
momentum is forward. Now with the flixerv you're pushed back, right,
so you have to backtrack. You have to move like
you are going against your natural momentum direction or the
plan of being at the net and then trying to
finish off the rally at the net. So flixer can
(07:22):
be completely boggling. I think Indians use it very well
against others, but yeah, now they have to be prepared to,
you know, be at the receiving end of it.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Also.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Again, it's not something that is difficult to tackle, but
I think it took them by surprise yesterday because I
think it kind of suddenly started also towards the end
of the second set, and that Leo was completely unstoppable.
He was like absolutely possessed.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
When Ika just how the semi final unraveled, right, I
mean started off very strongly. Remember I think was it
midway through the first game or the second game when
the coach said that everything's going fine, there's no need
to kind of change a lot of things. And then
was it just the flick serve that troubled them or
there was something more profound which completely swung the momentum
(08:05):
in the Chinese favor so at.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
The point of recording and just fresh off watching the
replay of the match. So it's in the middle of
the first game what you were referring to, right, that
just started the piece that I'm working on with that exactly. Actually,
coach came up as Indians as a safiag with leading
eleven five, was very calm. You know, everything is fine,
nothing to worry about, just organize yourself, attacked side by
(08:27):
side a couple of other things. Is proper zen Master types.
And the coaching break at the end of the second
game was the complete opposite. I've never seen Coach Tan
that anyway. It was like, you guys are rushing, don't
play with ego, don't smash everything, just think about smashing.
And the Indians had actually won the second game, but
it just got really tight in the end where again
they had a big lead at sixteen eleven and then
(08:49):
the Chinese fought back, caught up and it did made
for a very nervy ending and Coach Dan was also
feeling the heat of the battle at that point.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I suppose.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
So, yeah, like she mentioned at the end of the
second game, the flicks have started coming more frequently, and
I think. I mean, I know people hate sometimes when
we use cricket references in another sport discussion, but this
reminded me slightly of these the raging turners. Right like
on the raging turners, the ball that doesn't turn is
as dangerous as the ball that does turn, sometimes even more.
(09:17):
I think at some point the thought of the flick
serves started scrambling the Indians' minds, that they were not
preparing themselves for the slightly more the tumble serve or
the soft serve, the short ones, and they started netting
much more. The service returns started going to the net
more because I think they were almost on the back
foot waiting for the flick serve and then suddenly they
weren't sure. Like what you were saying is just completely
(09:39):
upset the rhythm that these guys had. And the Chinese
used flix serves much more than you would see in
a match, but it also made their other serves more
impotent because the Indians were not quite sure what was
going on. I think at the midgame interval, which after
that nightmare nine Nils start to the third game, I
think that's where the game was. The match was eventually
lost when Chinese went up nine nils at the start
of the game the third game that interval coach stan
(10:00):
almost said like be ready for the flick and then
react to the short serf. So yeah, I think they
started thinking too much about it. It just upset their
game plans completely. And you're not recovering from a nine
minerl start as much as you've seen Saira come back
from that sort of deficit in the past, but at
the semi finals of the World Championships, I think that's
where the match was lost nine toil at the start
of third game. Yeah, it completely ruined the match for them.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
There's this other thing where I think Satwik and to
a lesser extent, Shiag also the shot smash is also something.
I mean they rate with the full blooded smash okay,
which gets depth, but that shot smash from the net
is something that was repeatedly going into the net even
in previous matches. So that's one thing that they have
(10:47):
to sort of figure it out. I don't know if
it's like a technical thing. I mean, Luksha has a
very good shot smash, but it's more rusty. I think
Satwik and Shuragh when put under pressure that that particular
shot also let them down, and the Chinese attack is
comparable to the Indians, so the cheen guy is like
he's massive, and also Leu has a lot of aggression,
(11:09):
so those were key things.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah. I don't know if it was just the short smash,
because I remember while the match was going out, texting Vinayaka,
who was doing the live blog that if I remember correctly,
I think it was four or five points after the
break in the second game, when the Chinese pair got
like a bunch of points together or was it the
first game itself, They had some seven eight points in
quick succession, and half of them were just like going
(11:32):
into the net.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, the first game.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
So was that period that you're referring to show which
were the short smashes was completely landing in the net?
Speaker 5 (11:39):
I mean a lot of returns.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
I mean this has been something that is I think,
I mean, I have noticed that persistently throughout the World Championship.
Very frankly, that smashing from the net now because it
comes at a very weird length and you're trying to
hit it short because I think the opponents are slightly behind,
so you're trying to explore that app but I'm not sure.
(12:02):
I mean, coaches would be in a better position to
figure out what is happening there.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, you'd expect that this is still a work in
progress right post Paris. So by the time the Asian
Games come around this time next year, we'll be in
a better position to look at how far they've come.
But beyond the medal, guys, what's the big take away
when it comes to Southwak andn Chiac Like, what makes
it a happy medal? As you guys put it when
I first Ben Shiuani, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Like I said, I mean, it's just what they went
through in Paris, and even post Paris with all the injuries.
I think that there is a wonderful first person account
that you spoke to Satwik for me here at the
end of last year. It's worth a Reid where he account,
I mean, details what all went wrong in the lead up,
things that started going wrong out of nowhere when they
were in great form before the Olympics, and then one
(12:47):
by one it started undraveling. The pressure got to them,
the drawers not very kind and all that jazz, and
then after Paris it got even more tough, with you know,
Satik having to deal with his father's death earlier this
year than injuries as well, and Chirak then hurting his back,
and one of their big dreams would have been to
do well at All England. They had to retire from
(13:08):
All England mid match. I think at Singapore they said
with Sati Coast is the one who said this, when
I've been fit, He's been injured. When he's been fit,
I've been injured, and he's probably doesn't even tell me
half the time that he's injured. He's probably carrying an injury,
back injury and still playing without telling me and all
that thing. All that right, So yeah, to go through
all that, I think even the commentators I've been talking
about this is just if both of them have us
(13:29):
sustained maybe a year of full fitness, you know and
picking and choosing tournaments, they're going to be back close
to the top. I mean they're not well number nines.
I mean that's their rank, but they're not the ninth
best player in the world. They're higher than that. But
it's just what they've been going through recently. So yeah,
in that sense, it's really it's a vindication. Like what
we had mentioned, it's vindication that they've been doing good work,
(13:50):
they're on the right track, and hopefully they climb up
the rankings. I mean not rankings are not important, but
that you mean that they're in good form, so hopefully
they get back to where they belong.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I'm happy that failures can really test friendships and just
the fact that their bond is very very intact, very
very strong, probably stronger than before. They've gone through hell
okay in this last for one year, and like for
example Cheral at all England, him actually playing through the
pain because he knew that Sapik had put in a
(14:20):
lot of sort of mental effort to just be there
and you play, so soon after his father's demise. So
I think the bonds built that is great. Also in
the lead up to the Olympics, Aaron Shea and so
we as well as the Chinese. Those are the people
that they had lost to, probably not the Malaysians, with
the Chinese twice in two finals.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
So just in terms of the game style.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
And then getting the confidences back that they can beat
these people at a big stage, I think those two
wins were very very important. I think the same will
happen with the second Chinese pair as well. Where there
will be doubts right now about how to sort of
counter them, but finding that solution, working on it together,
I think that's a great bond building thing as well.
(15:03):
So that way, that medal is good. I think it'll
be a far more precious metal than the last bronze.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, I mean we're so used to watching doubles teams
from another sport kind of always going at each other,
so it's refreshing that year we have two men who
want pretty well on the court and off it. Two
I guess we just will focus a bit on the
other big performance from the World Championships, that is Pevi Sindhu.
(15:30):
Guys completely surprised me. I don't know if either of
you saw it coming, but the way she played in
the round of sixteen was it when she defeated the
Chinese Wanxie. Just the aggression, the energy. Where was that
for the last two years, Shiwani, Could you please put
it in some kind of make some sense of what
(15:51):
Sindu had been doing over the last one week.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
No, I'll always back Sindo against any Chinese. Okay, she
just has the game, whether she is in great form,
not great form, whatever it is, she just has like
their number, so there was no doubt that it's not
going to be easy for the Chinese. But yeah, I
mean she still had to go ahead and get that
win and play a very good game, so you know
she did that. And also I think she played fairly
(16:17):
well against the Indonation as well Wadani, but I think
the opening played better, So that's how the whole thing.
But a sixth medal would have been nice, have put
her a head of the Chinese ang name. But yeah,
I think the good thing about losses in the Indian
badminton is it keeps them hungry. You know, they will
sort of extend their careers. They'll look for solutions, they'll
(16:39):
find new skills. So I hope she goes on and
you know she keeps at it because she has a
winning hearth.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
At the World Championship. Forget the headlines that it would
have created, but just the doubts it would have created
in Sindu's mind. I don't know how much longer it
would have had going into twenty twenty six, which is
again an important year because of the number of competitions,
big competitions lined up there, like are we happy that
she came so close? To another medal, or are we
happy that she kind of a put in a good,
(17:09):
proper fight. She looked fitter than she has in the
last twelve or eighteen months perhaps, or is it a
combination of everything, like we just believe that we saw
Sindhu playing the way she can.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Yeah, I think it's probably the last one for me.
I mean, she was probably not going to lose in
the first round or the second round the World Championships,
given the draw the first round. Actually she seemed to
be struggling against that Bulgarian teenager I think number eighteen
in the world is something who had the game points
in the opening game, but I'm eventually won it anyway,
but she still managed to win that in straight games.
It was almost exact same in the second round against
(17:41):
Leachna and Malaysia's player who dominated in the first game
for the last part but ended up dropping it, and
then Sindhu ran through the second game. And then for
her to start the way she did against Wang Sindhu,
I think I think Shivani has been writing about this
quite a lot. Sindu's a slow starter, right, She takes
her time. Sometimes she drops the opening game, comes back
or you in the opening game. She's a slow starter.
(18:02):
That match against Wang, she was just at it from
the word go, and I think that was very pleasing
for me to see Wang is the second best player
in the world this year. I mean, she would have
had far many more titles if that anse Youang was
not around, and you know, for her to into to
dominate Wang like that, it was a very very good sign.
And in essense, it tells me that she's still capable
(18:22):
of pushing these top players, you know, and I mean
Wang is not exactly the younger generation because as young
and you know, even there are a few younger Bardani
is quite young. There is Toma Kamiyazaki. She pushed Vardani
all the way and she beat Kama Kameyazaki at China
Open before eventually losing to Unati. So these are good
signs that she can hold her own against the younger,
(18:43):
really young players, because she's been talking about that, right,
I mean, the game is getting younger and younger, and
the rallies are getting longer and longer. The third game,
I remember against Werdani, so many long rallies and that
thing at one point even Shei Wani mentioned in the
blog also I think that this feels like okoharas in
through twenty seventeen.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
It it just felt like they were going.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
At each other and Sindhu's lunging and diving. I'd never
seen Sindhu put in a full blooded dive. I mean
not never, but very rarely that happens. She has this
very awkward looking dive of going on the knees that
she was putting in full fledged forward dives to get
the shuttle back.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It showed me.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
I mean, Sindhu at the World Championships is a different
beast and that will always be the case. Whether she
has the same drive to do well on the tour,
it's still up for debate. I mean, I don't think
and says this a lot, I don't think Sindhu is
that kind of a player. So yeah, probably the next
big focus is going to be that All England next year,
and maybe the preparations start for it right now. And
let's see, she's showing that she can still go to
(19:39):
to do with these current lots, so that's a good
sign and I hope she builds on that. I hope
she works on certain areas like the drops and the slices,
the half smashes that cause her a lot of trouble.
She can work on that a little bit more, but yeah,
she can keep up the power and Bang actually set
up to the match that she was surprised by Sindu's speed,
which is a good thing. I mean, if Shindu can
surprise top opponents with her speed at thirty, then it's
(20:01):
a good time. Hopefully the next World Championships is at home,
so let's see there is that All England and the
home World Championships maybe still targets for Sindhu.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
I think we should just like not us, but we
should stop being imbeciles in absolute ignorant people and throwing
age at Sindhu or anyone else. Like in badminton, these
people work incredibly hard. They can play longer than the
earlier generations. They work on their speed which can make
up for and the power is still there in Sindo's case.
Speaker 5 (20:30):
So I think she's thirty.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
And you know, somebody like the Danish All England champion
twice All England champion Rasmus say Tina. Now she also
won the All England at twenty nine and thirteen or
two back to back ones. So I think we should
just get the age thing out of the whole debate
and trust Sindhu to use her power and use the
improved skills and speed to get those big wins. But again,
(20:56):
like she's not going to be absolutely consistent on the circuit.
That is an unrealistic expectation for the sort of game
that she plays. So yeah, Collingrind is the next one.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, I mean, like it said that circuit, it's a
completely different Sindhu, and when it comes to big tournaments
we see a completely different one. Now we are kind
of coming towards the end of this episode, so we'll quickly,
you know, move to the other big talking point. Of course,
a big shout out to through Ka Pasto doing pretty
well in mixed doubles, coming close to a medal there too,
(21:27):
which would have been a nice one. But I think
the one that's constantly been a source of frustration for
many badminton followers, and Shiani has written a nice big
column on that as well is Luxure, saying Shuan, you
argue that he needs a major shakeup and that has
to be done to reboot his career. What's gone wrong
with Luxury? He's written to this again, like if you
(21:48):
were to talk about the Okay, we'll not call it
a redemption arc, but the whatever that replacement word arc
will be for Southway can Geral for Luxure return to
Paris hasn't been that romance.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
The shut was tough, Okay. I mean he's in the
finals today. He is world number one, so that was
going to be a tough match. But the thing is,
I think just the way Luxury has gone about it,
what he does in the end stage is repeatedly tournament
after tournament after tournament.
Speaker 5 (22:15):
He needs a good sort of singles coach.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
The Korean is a good he's good at getting him trained,
but I'm not sure. Like on the court, I think
Wimmel and Prakasa, yes, of course, I mean they were
good at the Olympics, but I'm not very sure of
the tactics from this particular coach.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Also, he needs to take care of his back and
his shoulder, so there are going to be limitations in
his game. I think he's developed a good smash which
is like a forearm snap smash, which works well for him,
but he cannot risk overtraining. That is another thing he
cannot risk overplaying. Also, so the entire schedule has to
be very, very perfect.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
He needs to.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Pick and choose his tournaments, He needs to pick where
he wants to peak, So all those things are important
and overtraining will be disastrous.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Nak luxure saying has been a source of many mood
swings for you too. Were you kind of expecting a
force down defeat over year because of the opponent he
was facing, for you expected more and now you agree
that he needs a complete reboot.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
No, I was actually relatively satisfied to the performance at
least he put in. I mean, it was one of
the better performances that he has shown this year on tour.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
He did pushy Uchi all the way.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
But it's a poor game match that was nearly an
r IF I remember, right, I don't have the number
in front of me, but the poo game match that
was more than fifteen minutes. It's not something that you
see often, right, I mean the rallies were long. He
was under trouble at some point of time. But yeah,
I mean I did to agree with Himani feels like
he's I mean, at times he comes across as I mean,
this is a very I mean casual observation. I mean,
(23:51):
I'm not even sure if I should be saying this,
but he feels like he's not there, like fully mentally
right when you see him on tour during a match,
he comes, drifts in and out of matches, has these
perts that suddenly seems unplayable, and then has these perts
where he drops ten eleven points and he's not able
to arrest the slide. It just feels a very inconsistent
sort of face for Laksha. And we can keep talking
(24:14):
about the heartbreak of Olympics. I think there's a line
in that Vimlkumar interview that Chiovanni had done. I mean,
how long do you talk about Olympics, right? I mean, yeah,
the heartbreak was real, it was painful. It had a
little bit of a consequence with what all that coach
Prakash had said and all that. But it's near now, right,
I mean, you have to move on at some point
of time. I'm not sure he's able to. Maybe that
(24:34):
reset what the Chivani is suggesting is probably the way
to go. It feels a little strange. I think his
game is still there, it's just the niggles that keep
bothering him. Probably not able to go at a hundred
persons all the time, and that's all these things. Yeah,
you should find a way to just maybe find the
joy in batmanute again, like, smile a lot more and
enjoy the points. He's far too serious looking on the
court for a still a kid, right, I mean not
(24:57):
even twenty five, So that's probably some one way too,
maybe reset himself. And yeah, while we are on some
men singles, I actually want to talk about Chess Prano
a little bit before we run out of time. It
was just wonderful to see that fight he put up
against Anders Anderson in the second round. Had match points,
should have taken the match. But man, I mean at
thirty three. I'm sorry Shimani to bring up the age again,
(25:19):
but at thirty three to do what he did against
one of the best informed players in the world too.
I mean, at one point Anderson looked proper active. Just
Pronoi is one of the cleverest, smartest, shootest players we've
had in badminton. And even if his body is not
reacting the way he wants it to, these are his words,
not mine. The body is not reacting the same way
it used to, but the mind is still there, the
game is still there. It's just really good to see that,
(25:41):
and he's probably hinting at retirement plans already. He said
that he maybe has just one more World Championships left
in him, which would be at home again, like we
mentioned next year. So yeah, we're probably in the last
stretch for PRANOI. So hopefully he can get something good
in the next whatever months he has left in him.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
You know, both she can't now. They are absolute entertainers.
They are absolutely past our sole players. Okay, like even
if they're losing, the match will be like a proper spectacle,
a proper show. So I think what should take a
shot at the All England as well? They've been defining
players of this generation and uh yeah they should push
(26:19):
it because the games are way to go to you know,
just sort of drift off into retirement.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Fitness is an issue perfect.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
So that's what plenty of gains from these World Championships,
which I'll put my hand up and say that I
didn't really expect so many pleasant surprises and good things
to look forward to come the next World Championship and
the cycle running up to that for every player. I
guess that's one big takeaway from Paris, whether medal or
no medal, and I guess that's about it the time
(26:50):
we have for this week's episode. This is a World
Championship month, so we will be focusing on quite a
few of them. Thanks again for listening to this week's
episode of Game Time. We will be back with a
new episode next week.
Speaker 6 (27:06):
You were listening to Express Ports by the Indian Express.
This week's show was edited and mixed by Soesh Bawar
and produced by me Shashang Bargev. If you like the show,
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us at podcasts at Indian Express dot com.
Hello and welcome to Express Sports podcast. You're listening to
Game Time and we come today with a lot of
mixed emotions. I guess there is, of course some sort
of joy that the medal streak at the World Championship
for India continues with Southwick, saidra Junkiddy and Chirakshetti getting
a bronze. There's also a tinge of disappointment that they
(00:24):
couldn't make it to the final. But there's also a
pleasant surprise served by Pevi Sindhu continues to kind of
improve after a troublesome couple of years. And then there
was also a slight bit of surprise for the mixed doubles.
At the same time disappointment in men's singles from Luxure saying,
but a few other performances have kind of balanced it out.
(00:45):
A fun week to follow badminton and to discuss that
we have with us our in house badminton experts. When
at pona Angan, Shiwanni Nike welcome. Who wants to go first?
And where do we start first? I think just because
they won the medal, Shiwani, we should start with Southwick
and Chirag Shiwani. Does the medal make you happy? Or
(01:07):
it leaves you with a sort of regret.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
No, I'm just very greedy, so I always want gold
and they capable of it. But no, it's a happy medal,
you know, after what happened at the Olympics. It's definitely
a happy medal considering the fact that they've beaten to
pairings which they had found difficult in the lead up
to the Olympics and at the Olympics. So it's a
happy medal that way, we should ideally be very content
(01:30):
and whatever. But then no, I mean no harm in
being greedy and you know, wanting to get that gold
like at the next possible opportunity, which would be next year.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I mean, look at China right when we talk about greedy,
they've got people in players in all five medal matches,
gold medal matches. So talk about being greedy and benevolent
Twitter or whatever it is. But Varaika, I mean, Shianni
mentioned the great redemption that Southwick in chiag had more
so because of the personal difficulties they've had to overcome
(02:01):
right post Paris, both of them have had a very
tough time off the court too, and it was nice
to see that a lot of things came together for
them this week after everything that had gone not so
according to plan for the rest of the months.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
I was actually messaging someone before the tournament began, and
one of the things that I mentioned was, I actually
feel good about Chatwi Chiak's draw because it makes sure
that they are dialed in from the word god, like
when we saw that roid is clearly a draw from
hell because they had to face Liang Wang first in
the round of sixteen and then Chia and So in
(02:37):
the quarters, two pairs like Chioanni mentioned have caused them
a lot of troubles, a lot of heartache in the past,
most notably Chia and So at the Paris Olympics last
year at the quarterfinal stage, where they'd be meeting again
this year in Paris. But I had a feeling that
it's good because sometimes these sort of draws tend to
make you alert and prepare probably a little harder, make
(02:58):
sure that you're not easy into the tournament. Even the
first round raw had a Chinese type second round sorry,
the first round is a bye that was quite tricky
to handle Youngko handle. Lefty is a very tricky customer.
So yeah, I think in a way it was good
because they came and they were dialed in from the
word go, and those two wins, I think in respect
you of the slight bittersweet nature of the bronze medal,
(03:19):
right now, I mean I agree with you, and it's
a very happy medal. It's like i'd written, it's not
exactly redemption because I'm sure that if you ask them
whether they would like to beat tyron Cia the quarterfinals
of the Olympics or the quarter finals of the World Championships,
I'm one hundred percent sure they'd say the Olympics. Right,
So it's probably not redemption, but it just puts together
a tough period. I mean, it's a culmination of a
(03:40):
tough period for them, and make sure that you know
it remains everyone that they're still around, is still one
of the best top three four pairs in the world. Yeah,
so those two wins are definitely something worth building on.
But yeah, the semi final, if it left a little
bit of a bitter tastey, and just because they had
a really good start, they were playing well and then
they just came undone by one tactic from the Chinese.
(04:01):
We just they just flick served the flickserve caused a
lot of trouble for the Indians, and it's something that
they need to work on.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
It used to be the tumble serve.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Now I'm guessing they're expecting the tumble serve and then
not being ready for the flick serve. I don't quite
know what's happening, but yeah, that service written situation is
something that definitely need to work on going forward.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
A great point about them also serving a reminder that
they're still around because post Paris, I think there were
a few doubts raised about how far can they co right.
I mean, there were questions they LA is still four
years away, whether they'll still be there, and if they're
there at the whether they'll be at the same form,
same level four years down the line. Southwak. One conversation
(04:39):
I had with him after Paris, he said that twenty
twenty five would be an experimental year for them, new
coach coming in. They both had some ideas which they
wanted to work on. In that sense, twenty twenty five
hours a year they would experiment and we saw that
in the build up to the World Championships and kind
of peaked at the right time. I guess, but Shiani,
what changes do you say, see, if we were to
(05:01):
look at the Chia so much. We'll talk about the
semi finals against the Chinese pair in a bit, but
if we were to compare the two quarterfinals, same players,
same venue, roughly the same month of the year two,
the results were extremely opposite. So what difference did you
notice compared to Paris Olympics?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Okay, So I think one thing we need to sort
of understanders they are following the hole Sindhupath Okay where
she lost a couple of World Championship finals. She also
had two bronzes, and then eventually she worked on every
aspect of the game because every aspect was sort of exposed,
so then she went about plugging those gaps. So it's
the same with Satha Chiag as well. They have come
(05:42):
to grips with the flat game that the Chinese, or
the Malaysians or the Indonations play.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
So yeah, they've really skid up for that. They've learned
new things.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Sutik does tend to play a lot more on the
front court, and like you said, it is still in
an experimental stage that entire rotation routine, but that was
one notable thing they're trying it out and they're sticking
by it because they need to have this flexibility of
either of them playing the front court. So it's not
a finished product yet, so that is good. They are
(06:12):
still learning and they could use it like properly against
both the Chinese as well as the Malaysian pair, and
even against the pair that they lost to in the Semis,
the Chinese Liu and Chin. I think there's like when
I pointed out the flix serve. Now it's frankly something
that caught them by surprise, but it's not something that
(06:35):
cannot be handled. You know, there are solutions very readily
available if they are prepared for it. But then again,
you know that's a gap that will need to be plugged.
So that's how the nature of their career is going
to be. You know, they lose and then they learn
and then come back and beat the same pairs.
Speaker 5 (06:52):
So those are the things that.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
What happens with the flixer. Like if you were to
kind of look at the tumblesow and the flick, so
why is it tricky to kind of handle the clips?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
So see, basically you're trying to gain dominance at the net.
You're trying to attack controls from the net. The entire
momentum is forward. Now with the flixerv you're pushed back, right,
so you have to backtrack. You have to move like
you are going against your natural momentum direction or the
plan of being at the net and then trying to
finish off the rally at the net. So flixer can
(07:22):
be completely boggling. I think Indians use it very well
against others, but yeah, now they have to be prepared to,
you know, be at the receiving end of it.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Also.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Again, it's not something that is difficult to tackle, but
I think it took them by surprise yesterday because I
think it kind of suddenly started also towards the end
of the second set, and that Leo was completely unstoppable.
He was like absolutely possessed.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
When Ika just how the semi final unraveled, right, I
mean started off very strongly. Remember I think was it
midway through the first game or the second game when
the coach said that everything's going fine, there's no need
to kind of change a lot of things. And then
was it just the flick serve that troubled them or
there was something more profound which completely swung the momentum
(08:05):
in the Chinese favor so at.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
The point of recording and just fresh off watching the
replay of the match. So it's in the middle of
the first game what you were referring to, right, that
just started the piece that I'm working on with that exactly. Actually,
coach came up as Indians as a safiag with leading
eleven five, was very calm. You know, everything is fine,
nothing to worry about, just organize yourself, attacked side by
(08:27):
side a couple of other things. Is proper zen Master types.
And the coaching break at the end of the second
game was the complete opposite. I've never seen Coach Tan
that anyway. It was like, you guys are rushing, don't
play with ego, don't smash everything, just think about smashing.
And the Indians had actually won the second game, but
it just got really tight in the end where again
they had a big lead at sixteen eleven and then
(08:49):
the Chinese fought back, caught up and it did made
for a very nervy ending and Coach Dan was also
feeling the heat of the battle at that point.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I suppose.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
So, yeah, like she mentioned at the end of the
second game, the flicks have started coming more frequently, and
I think. I mean, I know people hate sometimes when
we use cricket references in another sport discussion, but this
reminded me slightly of these the raging turners. Right like
on the raging turners, the ball that doesn't turn is
as dangerous as the ball that does turn, sometimes even more.
(09:17):
I think at some point the thought of the flick
serves started scrambling the Indians' minds, that they were not
preparing themselves for the slightly more the tumble serve or
the soft serve, the short ones, and they started netting
much more. The service returns started going to the net
more because I think they were almost on the back
foot waiting for the flick serve and then suddenly they
weren't sure. Like what you were saying is just completely
(09:39):
upset the rhythm that these guys had. And the Chinese
used flix serves much more than you would see in
a match, but it also made their other serves more
impotent because the Indians were not quite sure what was
going on. I think at the midgame interval, which after
that nightmare nine Nils start to the third game, I
think that's where the game was. The match was eventually
lost when Chinese went up nine nils at the start
of the game the third game that interval coach stan
(10:00):
almost said like be ready for the flick and then
react to the short serf. So yeah, I think they
started thinking too much about it. It just upset their
game plans completely. And you're not recovering from a nine
minerl start as much as you've seen Saira come back
from that sort of deficit in the past, but at
the semi finals of the World Championships, I think that's
where the match was lost nine toil at the start
of third game. Yeah, it completely ruined the match for them.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
There's this other thing where I think Satwik and to
a lesser extent, Shiag also the shot smash is also something.
I mean they rate with the full blooded smash okay,
which gets depth, but that shot smash from the net
is something that was repeatedly going into the net even
in previous matches. So that's one thing that they have
(10:47):
to sort of figure it out. I don't know if
it's like a technical thing. I mean, Luksha has a
very good shot smash, but it's more rusty. I think
Satwik and Shuragh when put under pressure that that particular
shot also let them down, and the Chinese attack is
comparable to the Indians, so the cheen guy is like
he's massive, and also Leu has a lot of aggression,
(11:09):
so those were key things.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah. I don't know if it was just the short smash,
because I remember while the match was going out, texting Vinayaka,
who was doing the live blog that if I remember correctly,
I think it was four or five points after the
break in the second game, when the Chinese pair got
like a bunch of points together or was it the
first game itself, They had some seven eight points in
quick succession, and half of them were just like going
(11:32):
into the net.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, the first game.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
So was that period that you're referring to show which
were the short smashes was completely landing in the net?
Speaker 5 (11:39):
I mean a lot of returns.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
I mean this has been something that is I think,
I mean, I have noticed that persistently throughout the World Championship.
Very frankly, that smashing from the net now because it
comes at a very weird length and you're trying to
hit it short because I think the opponents are slightly behind,
so you're trying to explore that app but I'm not sure.
(12:02):
I mean, coaches would be in a better position to
figure out what is happening there.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, you'd expect that this is still a work in
progress right post Paris. So by the time the Asian
Games come around this time next year, we'll be in
a better position to look at how far they've come.
But beyond the medal, guys, what's the big take away
when it comes to Southwak andn Chiac Like, what makes
it a happy medal? As you guys put it when
I first Ben Shiuani, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Like I said, I mean, it's just what they went
through in Paris, and even post Paris with all the injuries.
I think that there is a wonderful first person account
that you spoke to Satwik for me here at the
end of last year. It's worth a Reid where he account,
I mean, details what all went wrong in the lead up,
things that started going wrong out of nowhere when they
were in great form before the Olympics, and then one
(12:47):
by one it started undraveling. The pressure got to them,
the drawers not very kind and all that jazz, and
then after Paris it got even more tough, with you know,
Satik having to deal with his father's death earlier this
year than injuries as well, and Chirak then hurting his back,
and one of their big dreams would have been to
do well at All England. They had to retire from
(13:08):
All England mid match. I think at Singapore they said
with Sati Coast is the one who said this, when
I've been fit, He's been injured. When he's been fit,
I've been injured, and he's probably doesn't even tell me
half the time that he's injured. He's probably carrying an injury,
back injury and still playing without telling me and all
that thing. All that right, So yeah, to go through
all that, I think even the commentators I've been talking
about this is just if both of them have us
(13:29):
sustained maybe a year of full fitness, you know and
picking and choosing tournaments, they're going to be back close
to the top. I mean they're not well number nines.
I mean that's their rank, but they're not the ninth
best player in the world. They're higher than that. But
it's just what they've been going through recently. So yeah,
in that sense, it's really it's a vindication. Like what
we had mentioned, it's vindication that they've been doing good work,
(13:50):
they're on the right track, and hopefully they climb up
the rankings. I mean not rankings are not important, but
that you mean that they're in good form, so hopefully
they get back to where they belong.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I'm happy that failures can really test friendships and just
the fact that their bond is very very intact, very
very strong, probably stronger than before. They've gone through hell
okay in this last for one year, and like for
example Cheral at all England, him actually playing through the
pain because he knew that Sapik had put in a
(14:20):
lot of sort of mental effort to just be there
and you play, so soon after his father's demise. So
I think the bonds built that is great. Also in
the lead up to the Olympics, Aaron Shea and so
we as well as the Chinese. Those are the people
that they had lost to, probably not the Malaysians, with
the Chinese twice in two finals.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
So just in terms of the game style.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
And then getting the confidences back that they can beat
these people at a big stage, I think those two
wins were very very important. I think the same will
happen with the second Chinese pair as well. Where there
will be doubts right now about how to sort of
counter them, but finding that solution, working on it together,
I think that's a great bond building thing as well.
(15:03):
So that way, that medal is good. I think it'll
be a far more precious metal than the last bronze.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, I mean we're so used to watching doubles teams
from another sport kind of always going at each other,
so it's refreshing that year we have two men who
want pretty well on the court and off it. Two
I guess we just will focus a bit on the
other big performance from the World Championships, that is Pevi Sindhu.
(15:30):
Guys completely surprised me. I don't know if either of
you saw it coming, but the way she played in
the round of sixteen was it when she defeated the
Chinese Wanxie. Just the aggression, the energy. Where was that
for the last two years, Shiwani, Could you please put
it in some kind of make some sense of what
(15:51):
Sindu had been doing over the last one week.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
No, I'll always back Sindo against any Chinese. Okay, she
just has the game, whether she is in great form,
not great form, whatever it is, she just has like
their number, so there was no doubt that it's not
going to be easy for the Chinese. But yeah, I
mean she still had to go ahead and get that
win and play a very good game, so you know
she did that. And also I think she played fairly
(16:17):
well against the Indonation as well Wadani, but I think
the opening played better, So that's how the whole thing.
But a sixth medal would have been nice, have put
her a head of the Chinese ang name. But yeah,
I think the good thing about losses in the Indian
badminton is it keeps them hungry. You know, they will
sort of extend their careers. They'll look for solutions, they'll
(16:39):
find new skills. So I hope she goes on and
you know she keeps at it because she has a
winning hearth.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
At the World Championship. Forget the headlines that it would
have created, but just the doubts it would have created
in Sindu's mind. I don't know how much longer it
would have had going into twenty twenty six, which is
again an important year because of the number of competitions,
big competitions lined up there, like are we happy that
she came so close? To another medal, or are we
happy that she kind of a put in a good,
(17:09):
proper fight. She looked fitter than she has in the
last twelve or eighteen months perhaps, or is it a
combination of everything, like we just believe that we saw
Sindhu playing the way she can.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Yeah, I think it's probably the last one for me.
I mean, she was probably not going to lose in
the first round or the second round the World Championships,
given the draw the first round. Actually she seemed to
be struggling against that Bulgarian teenager I think number eighteen
in the world is something who had the game points
in the opening game, but I'm eventually won it anyway,
but she still managed to win that in straight games.
It was almost exact same in the second round against
(17:41):
Leachna and Malaysia's player who dominated in the first game
for the last part but ended up dropping it, and
then Sindhu ran through the second game. And then for
her to start the way she did against Wang Sindhu,
I think I think Shivani has been writing about this
quite a lot. Sindu's a slow starter, right, She takes
her time. Sometimes she drops the opening game, comes back
or you in the opening game. She's a slow starter.
(18:02):
That match against Wang, she was just at it from
the word go, and I think that was very pleasing
for me to see Wang is the second best player
in the world this year. I mean, she would have
had far many more titles if that anse Youang was
not around, and you know, for her to into to
dominate Wang like that, it was a very very good sign.
And in essense, it tells me that she's still capable
(18:22):
of pushing these top players, you know, and I mean
Wang is not exactly the younger generation because as young
and you know, even there are a few younger Bardani
is quite young. There is Toma Kamiyazaki. She pushed Vardani
all the way and she beat Kama Kameyazaki at China
Open before eventually losing to Unati. So these are good
signs that she can hold her own against the younger,
(18:43):
really young players, because she's been talking about that, right,
I mean, the game is getting younger and younger, and
the rallies are getting longer and longer. The third game,
I remember against Werdani, so many long rallies and that
thing at one point even Shei Wani mentioned in the
blog also I think that this feels like okoharas in
through twenty seventeen.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
It it just felt like they were going.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
At each other and Sindhu's lunging and diving. I'd never
seen Sindhu put in a full blooded dive. I mean
not never, but very rarely that happens. She has this
very awkward looking dive of going on the knees that
she was putting in full fledged forward dives to get
the shuttle back.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It showed me.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
I mean, Sindhu at the World Championships is a different
beast and that will always be the case. Whether she
has the same drive to do well on the tour,
it's still up for debate. I mean, I don't think
and says this a lot, I don't think Sindhu is
that kind of a player. So yeah, probably the next
big focus is going to be that All England next year,
and maybe the preparations start for it right now. And
let's see, she's showing that she can still go to
(19:39):
to do with these current lots, so that's a good
sign and I hope she builds on that. I hope
she works on certain areas like the drops and the slices,
the half smashes that cause her a lot of trouble.
She can work on that a little bit more, but yeah,
she can keep up the power and Bang actually set
up to the match that she was surprised by Sindu's speed,
which is a good thing. I mean, if Shindu can
surprise top opponents with her speed at thirty, then it's
(20:01):
a good time. Hopefully the next World Championships is at home,
so let's see there is that All England and the
home World Championships maybe still targets for Sindhu.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
I think we should just like not us, but we
should stop being imbeciles in absolute ignorant people and throwing
age at Sindhu or anyone else. Like in badminton, these
people work incredibly hard. They can play longer than the
earlier generations. They work on their speed which can make
up for and the power is still there in Sindo's case.
Speaker 5 (20:30):
So I think she's thirty.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
And you know, somebody like the Danish All England champion
twice All England champion Rasmus say Tina. Now she also
won the All England at twenty nine and thirteen or
two back to back ones. So I think we should
just get the age thing out of the whole debate
and trust Sindhu to use her power and use the
improved skills and speed to get those big wins. But again,
(20:56):
like she's not going to be absolutely consistent on the circuit.
That is an unrealistic expectation for the sort of game
that she plays. So yeah, Collingrind is the next one.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, I mean, like it said that circuit, it's a
completely different Sindhu, and when it comes to big tournaments
we see a completely different one. Now we are kind
of coming towards the end of this episode, so we'll quickly,
you know, move to the other big talking point. Of course,
a big shout out to through Ka Pasto doing pretty
well in mixed doubles, coming close to a medal there too,
(21:27):
which would have been a nice one. But I think
the one that's constantly been a source of frustration for
many badminton followers, and Shiani has written a nice big
column on that as well is Luxure, saying Shuan, you
argue that he needs a major shakeup and that has
to be done to reboot his career. What's gone wrong
with Luxury? He's written to this again, like if you
(21:48):
were to talk about the Okay, we'll not call it
a redemption arc, but the whatever that replacement word arc
will be for Southway can Geral for Luxure return to
Paris hasn't been that romance.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
The shut was tough, Okay. I mean he's in the
finals today. He is world number one, so that was
going to be a tough match. But the thing is,
I think just the way Luxury has gone about it,
what he does in the end stage is repeatedly tournament
after tournament after tournament.
Speaker 5 (22:15):
He needs a good sort of singles coach.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
The Korean is a good he's good at getting him trained,
but I'm not sure. Like on the court, I think
Wimmel and Prakasa, yes, of course, I mean they were
good at the Olympics, but I'm not very sure of
the tactics from this particular coach.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Also, he needs to take care of his back and
his shoulder, so there are going to be limitations in
his game. I think he's developed a good smash which
is like a forearm snap smash, which works well for him,
but he cannot risk overtraining. That is another thing he
cannot risk overplaying. Also, so the entire schedule has to
be very, very perfect.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
He needs to.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Pick and choose his tournaments, He needs to pick where
he wants to peak, So all those things are important
and overtraining will be disastrous.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Nak luxure saying has been a source of many mood
swings for you too. Were you kind of expecting a
force down defeat over year because of the opponent he
was facing, for you expected more and now you agree
that he needs a complete reboot.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
No, I was actually relatively satisfied to the performance at
least he put in. I mean, it was one of
the better performances that he has shown this year on tour.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
He did pushy Uchi all the way.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
But it's a poor game match that was nearly an
r IF I remember, right, I don't have the number
in front of me, but the poo game match that
was more than fifteen minutes. It's not something that you
see often, right, I mean the rallies were long. He
was under trouble at some point of time. But yeah,
I mean I did to agree with Himani feels like
he's I mean, at times he comes across as I mean,
this is a very I mean casual observation. I mean,
(23:51):
I'm not even sure if I should be saying this,
but he feels like he's not there, like fully mentally
right when you see him on tour during a match,
he comes, drifts in and out of matches, has these
perts that suddenly seems unplayable, and then has these perts
where he drops ten eleven points and he's not able
to arrest the slide. It just feels a very inconsistent
sort of face for Laksha. And we can keep talking
(24:14):
about the heartbreak of Olympics. I think there's a line
in that Vimlkumar interview that Chiovanni had done. I mean,
how long do you talk about Olympics, right? I mean, yeah,
the heartbreak was real, it was painful. It had a
little bit of a consequence with what all that coach
Prakash had said and all that. But it's near now, right,
I mean, you have to move on at some point
of time. I'm not sure he's able to. Maybe that
(24:34):
reset what the Chivani is suggesting is probably the way
to go. It feels a little strange. I think his
game is still there, it's just the niggles that keep
bothering him. Probably not able to go at a hundred
persons all the time, and that's all these things. Yeah,
you should find a way to just maybe find the
joy in batmanute again, like, smile a lot more and
enjoy the points. He's far too serious looking on the
court for a still a kid, right, I mean not
(24:57):
even twenty five, So that's probably some one way too,
maybe reset himself. And yeah, while we are on some
men singles, I actually want to talk about Chess Prano
a little bit before we run out of time. It
was just wonderful to see that fight he put up
against Anders Anderson in the second round. Had match points,
should have taken the match. But man, I mean at
thirty three. I'm sorry Shimani to bring up the age again,
(25:19):
but at thirty three to do what he did against
one of the best informed players in the world too.
I mean, at one point Anderson looked proper active. Just
Pronoi is one of the cleverest, smartest, shootest players we've
had in badminton. And even if his body is not
reacting the way he wants it to, these are his words,
not mine. The body is not reacting the same way
it used to, but the mind is still there, the
game is still there. It's just really good to see that,
(25:41):
and he's probably hinting at retirement plans already. He said
that he maybe has just one more World Championships left
in him, which would be at home again, like we
mentioned next year. So yeah, we're probably in the last
stretch for PRANOI. So hopefully he can get something good
in the next whatever months he has left in him.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
You know, both she can't now. They are absolute entertainers.
They are absolutely past our sole players. Okay, like even
if they're losing, the match will be like a proper spectacle,
a proper show. So I think what should take a
shot at the All England as well? They've been defining
players of this generation and uh yeah they should push
(26:19):
it because the games are way to go to you know,
just sort of drift off into retirement.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Fitness is an issue perfect.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
So that's what plenty of gains from these World Championships,
which I'll put my hand up and say that I
didn't really expect so many pleasant surprises and good things
to look forward to come the next World Championship and
the cycle running up to that for every player. I
guess that's one big takeaway from Paris, whether medal or
no medal, and I guess that's about it the time
(26:50):
we have for this week's episode. This is a World
Championship month, so we will be focusing on quite a
few of them. Thanks again for listening to this week's
episode of Game Time. We will be back with a
new episode next week.
Speaker 6 (27:06):
You were listening to Express Ports by the Indian Express.
This week's show was edited and mixed by Soesh Bawar
and produced by me Shashang Bargev. If you like the show,
then do subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also recommend the show to someone you think
we'll like it, share it with a friend or someone
in your family.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
It's the best.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
Way for people to get to know about us. You
can also tweet us at Express Podcasts and write to
us at podcasts at Indian Express dot com.
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