The Indian mixed badminton team had to settle with silver after they put up an underwhelming show against Malaysia in the final of the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 on Tuesday.
Srikanth went down to lower-ranked Tze Yong Ng in three games to put the defending champions on the backfoot in the final.
However, PV Sindhu did what was expected out of her in the women's singles while the men's doubles pairing of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down in the opening doubles.
Meanwhile, Sindhu reflected on India's hapless defeat but set her sights on the coveted gold in the individual event.
In an exclusive conversation with India Today Sindhu said, "Well, I gave my team a point but unfortunately, the men's singles and the women’s doubles could not do it. They tried their best but only one can win and one should lose. It was not our day is what I felt and overall we secured a silver and I think it is important now to go back, relax and comeback and start our individuals soon".
Sindhu was a part of the unit that had won gold medal at the 2018 Gold Coast games in Mixed Team event. In the women's singles event, Sindhu could only bag a silver last time around, having been beaten by compatriot Saina Nehwal in the final. The ace shuttler would be keen to do better this time around and convert her women's singles silver to gold.
"Definitely hoping for the best and hoping for the gold but it is important to give my best in every single match and it is not going to be easy because it depends on that particular day, is what I feel. Because I know the conditions, how they are, they keep changing, so it is important to be focused from the first point, from the first day," Sindhu further added.
For a change, the Malaysian crowd made more noise than the Indians, providing a further push to Chia and Soh. After a tough battle, the Malaysians won 21-18, 21-15 to put their team 1-0 up In the women's singles, two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu was expected to win comfortably but the 60-th ranked Goh Jin Wei made life very tough for the world number 7.
Sindhu led 11-6 in the first game but Goh looked a different player after the interval. She made the former world champion run around the court with her skillful net play. Goh made a strong comeback to take the game till the very end.
Sindhu ended a rally with a forehand smash on Goh's left to make it 21-20 before the Malaysian netted a return. Goh's continued with similar tactics in the second game as well, trying to bring Sindhu close to the net. However, Sindhu was up for the task as she took an 11-7 lead in the second game.
Goh closed the gap after the interval but Sindhu was able to finish the game comfortably on this occasion. It was a gruelling affair and Goh gave her all on court including the last point when she fell on the floor. The final scoreline read 22-20 and 21-17 World number 14 Srikanth came up with a flat performance in the men's singles.
