Gopi: It’s a sheer joy to watch Anmol

P Gopichand and Anmol Kharb

Chief national badminton coach P Gopichand hailed the PV Sindhu-led Indian women who registered a 3-2 win over Thailand to clinch a historic gold in the Badminton Asia Team Championships at Selangor, Malaysia, on Sunday.

Thailand were without their top two singles players - World No. 13 Ratchanok Intanon and World No. 16 Pornpawee Chochuwong.

Also Read: Stand tall, feel great!

Gopichand was all praise for teen shuttler Anmol Kharb, 17, for winning crucial matches and infusing vibrant energy in the team. "Anmol…what can I say? It has been a sheer joy to watch her play in this tournament. She is a livewire. She is a kid and she brought in fresh, spirited energy that the team needed. It's good to have such a vibrant person around. I was just enjoying, laughing when she was around. To pull off wins especially when it's important, is not easy, but Anmol did so. The win surely made those moments extra special. To win matches against players from Japan and Thailand that too at a crucial stage is just fantastic. She is fresh, fearless, clever and confident," Gopichand told mid-day before boarding the flight back to India after the victory.

On Sunday, as the tie hung 2-2, Anmol defeated World No. 45 Pornpicha Choeikeewong 21-14, 21-9 in the deciding third singles. Earlier, two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu, who is returning to action after a four-month injury break, outclassed World No. 17 Supanida Katethong 21-12, 21-12 in the first singles and handed India a 1-0 lead. Later, World No. 23 Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand stunned World No.10 pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Pra Jongjai 21-16, 18-21, 21-16. Playing the second singles against World No. 18 Busanan Ongbamrungphan, expectations were high from Ashmita Chaliha, who defeated former world champion Nozomi Okuhara on Saturday. The Indian, who had beaten Busanan at the 2022 Singapore Open, went down 11-21, 14-21 to her experienced rival. Later, the young duo of Shruti Mishra and Priya Konjengbam lost 11-21, 9-21 to World No.13 pair of Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard.

Gopichand said this was one of the best teams he has watched. "It's a remarkable team effort. It's not easy to beat China, Japan and Thailand. It was also good to see Treesa and Gayatri come up with wins against World No. 6 [Saturday's 21-17, 16-21, 22-20 win over Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida] and World No. 10 pairs. Today [Sunday] Sindhu was really good. Though Ashmita lost today [Sunday], it was a great effort from her to beat a player like [Nozomi] Okuhara. Also, players who were not playing made enough noise in the dugout and that energy made all the difference. Thanks to the support staff without whom this win wouldn't have been possible," Gopichand signed off.

With inputs from agencies