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Match 1: Goh Soon Huat/ Lai Shevon Jemie 21-16, 21-17 Dhruv Kapila / Ashwini Ponnappa

Match 2: Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 21-11 Srikanth Kidambi

Match 3: Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 22-20 PV Sindhu

Match 4: Aaron Chia / Soh Wooi Yik 21-18, 21-19 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty

Match 5: Pearly Tan / Thinaah Muralitharan 21-15, 21-13 Treesa Jolly / Gayatri Gopichand Pullela

That will be all for this blog. Here are the highlights of the tie:

Some throwback moments:

MAS 5-0 IND: On the one-year anniversary of the Thomas Cup win, this comes as a reality check of sorts. There is still a long way to go for Indian badminton as a whole to become consistent challengers at these major events.

PV Sindhu to BWF: “It’s disappointing. Trailing and coming back and then losing the last two points, of course it’s disappointing. Overall, third game I should have maintained the lead or equal at least from the beginning, that’s where it made a bit of difference. In recent times it was one of my big comebacks. (Second game) Momentum wasn’t there, from the beginning I was making mistakes.”

MAS 5-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 21-15, 21-13 Treesa / Gayatri: Here’s how game 2 unfolded.

MAS 5-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 21-15, 21-13 Treesa / Gayatri: There was really not much to play for, for the Indians. They are usually at their best when they are intense, moving well, enjoying their game etc.. very little evidence / motivation for any of that here.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 21-15, 18-11 Treesa / Gayatri: Ouch, indecision from Gayatri and she hits Treesa with the shuttle.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 21-15, 16-11 Treesa / Gayatri: Superb rally again and the patience of the Malaysians pays off.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 21-15, 14-10 Treesa / Gayatri: Question of finishing with pride here. The Indians haven’t actually played all the badly here.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 21-15, 11-5 Treesa / Gayatri: “We are giving them the points, let them earn it,” is the message from Arun Vishnu. It’s all gone a bit flat at the moment. It’s an important tie for Malaysia mind you. A 5-0 is important for them to top the group.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 21-15, 9-5 Treesa / Gayatri: Somewhat of a similar pattern to the opening game.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 21-15, 4-4 Treesa / Gayatri: The Indians staying in touching distance in the opening stages of game 2.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 21-15 Treesa / Gayatri: The Malaysians were in control for the most part.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 20-15 Treesa / Gayatri: The Malaysians have 7 game points. One saved by Treesa’s smash down the line. Another served by Gayatri at the net.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 19-13 Treesa / Gayatri: The genius slow drop of Pearly Tan on display thee.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 16-9 Treesa / Gayatri: The Malaysians in control now. Not unlike yesterday, not much intensity in the opening game from the young Indians. They are under immense pressure from the service point.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 11-8 Treesa / Gayatri: Terrific from Tan at the net with the crosscourt. The MAS pair in the lead at the interval.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 10-7 Treesa / Gayatri: Brilliant direction changes from the Malaysians, something they are so good at.

MAS 4-0 IND, Tan / Thinaah 4-4 Treesa / Gayatri: Both pairs are bit of a outliers in women’s doubles, in that they look often to close out points than to elongate rallies. It’s been such a start so far.

MAS 4-0 IND, Pearly Tan / Thinaah Muralitharan vs Treesa Jolly / Gayatri Gopichand Pullela: Tan and Thinaah will start as favourites in this world No 11 vs No 17 battle. But the Indians can make a match out of this.

For the second straight day, the onus is on Gayatri-Treesa to give India at least a point in the tie. And today they face their nemesis (kinda) in Tan-Thinaah. The Indians won the last time these two met.

MAS 4-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 21-19 Satwik / Chirag: Chia / Soh convert their second match point. And for the 8th straight time, they defeat Satwik-Chirag. The wait continues for the Indian pair.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 20-18 Satwik / Chirag: Chia with a superb backhand. Now match points for MAS.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 18-18 Satwik / Chirag: Chirag with “maar maar” but Satwik goes for touch and eventually Chirag kills it at the net.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 18-17 Satwik / Chirag: Chia with a superb serve, sets up an important point. But makes an error next up from the serve!

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 16-16 Satwik / Chirag: Chirag with some unique movements across the court and eventually manages to get the point. Fabulous point.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 16-15 Satwik / Chirag: Chia seems to be aware that Soh is struggling a bit. Superb defence from the Indians and Satwik turns a block into a winner.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 16-12 Satwik / Chirag: Just kidding I am here, says Soh. (Kinda). Superb third-shot winner off his serve.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 15-12 Satwik / Chirag: Just for a little bit there it looked it might get one-sided, the 2nd game. But Satwik-Chirag are hanging in there. Steen reckons Soh has gone off the boil.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 13-10 Satwik / Chirag: There are signs of the Indians finding their footing here. Initiative in the first three shots.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 11-5 Satwik / Chirag: This is not a common sight anymore but if anyone could make SatChi look a bit clueless in the world at the moment, it has to be Chia/Soh. Aaron’s smashing is causing all sorts of issues.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18, 8-5 Satwik / Chirag: The world champions are starting to assert themselves here.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 21-18 Satwik / Chirag: Superb smash from Aaron and the opening game goes to MAS.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 20-18 Satwik / Chirag: Superb attacking work by Chirag. Two game points saved.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 20-16 Satwik / Chirag: A couple of uncharacteristic errors from Satwik. Game points for MAS.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 18-15 Satwik / Chirag: And this is where the top level MD ties get decided. Chia/Soh sneak ahead.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 14-14 Satwik / Chirag: Absolutely stunning rally. Both pairs with great flat shots, but the body attack on Chirag clinches the point for MAS. Next point, we are all level.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 10-11 Satwik / Chirag: As per the norm, very little to choose from the two pairs in the early stages. Small lead for the Indians.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron / Soh 5-7 Satwik / Chirag: A good start for the Indians.

MAS 3-0 IND, Aaron Chia / Soh Wooi Yik vs Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty: Time for the men’s doubles. SatChi’s nemesis. A 0-7 H2H. Can they have something to cheer for?

MAS 3-0 IND: And with that India are out of this year’s Sudirman Cup in the group stages.

MAS 3-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 22-20 PV Sindhu: Well.... that was interesting. Sindhu completely lost rhythm in the middle, trailing 4-14 in the decider after dropping the 2nd game. But launches a superb fightback. In the end Goh prevails! Her first win vs PVS.

MAS 3-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 22-20 PV Sindhu: Delight for Goh. Up goes the racket. Her backhand lands in and she staves a stunning fightback from Sindhu.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 21-20 PV Sindhu: Brilliant 1-2 from Goh. Another match point.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 20-20 PV Sindhu: Brilliant service return and match point for GOh. And it is saved by Sindhu.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 19-18 PV Sindhu: Backhand lands in! Sindhu is level. Wow.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 19-18 PV Sindhu: Oh close net call and it goes Sindhu’s way.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 19-17 PV Sindhu: Goh seems to be having some breathing issues, if I am not wrong.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 19-17 PV Sindhu: Great drop from Sindhu.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 19-16 PV Sindhu: Good service return winner from Goh, what a time to pull that crosscourt smash out.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 18-16 PV Sindhu: Goh with another error. Sindhu closes again.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 18-15 PV Sindhu: Gets the serve back, does Sindhu. Wild smash from Goh.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 18-14 PV Sindhu: Goh on the charge again.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 17-14 PV Sindhu: Goh gets the serve back. And plays a stunning backhand net shot winner.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 15-14 PV Sindhu: Terrific defence from Sindhu to then close the point on counterattack.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 15-13 PV Sindhu: Two-point game!

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 15-12 PV Sindhu: There’s a wrong challenge from Goh.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 15-11 PV Sindhu: The Indian bench is thrilled. 27 shots, longest rally of the match and one that Sindhu dominated.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 15-10 PV Sindhu: One point at a time, Sindhu is clawing her way back. Goh is missing the lines too at the moment.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 14-8 PV Sindhu: Ok, the points are at least being contested now. Sindhu is in some decent rhythm.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 14-4 PV Sindhu: Superb rally. And Sindhu is on the wrong side of it again.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 13-2 PV Sindhu: Sindhu is smiling as a tight net shot from Goh rolls just over the net cord.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 11-2 PV Sindhu: Space Jam levels of wonderment here for me. (The movie where the basketball players suddenly forget the basics)

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 7-2 PV Sindhu: Sindhu finally on board in the decider. With the little help of net cord.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 7-0 PV Sindhu: Sindhu can’t buy a point at the moment.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 4-0 PV Sindhu: Sindhu sends a shot well wide from the net after a good rally otherwise. Even Goh has a wry smile.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10, 3-0 PV Sindhu: Sindhu still struggling with Goh’s pace. This is not good news.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10 PV Sindhu: Sindhu sounds frustrated by her errors. Coach Vidhi asking her to rally. Anyway, we’ll know soon if game 2 was a blip or a bigger concern.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 21-10 PV Sindhu: Some turnaround that by Goh and there was phase of 2-3 minutes where Sindhu barely got the shuttle over to the other side.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 20-9 PV Sindhu: Sindhu playing like she is done with Game 2.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 15-6 PV Sindhu: Sindhu is now struggling with the basic shots out of nowhere. Yikes. 15-6 Goh post interval.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 11-6 PV Sindhu: Goh with a big lead into the interval.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 10-6 PV Sindhu: Goh looks a lot looser now and it is showing in the rallies. Sindhu constantly on the backfoot. The drops are making her straight smashes deadlier too.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21, 5-3 PV Sindhu: The drop shot should be on view a lot more in game 2 from Goh. Good early lead for her. Sindhu shows she can drop it well too. Nice start here as a contest.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21 PV Sindhu: Can Sindhu close this out in straight games?

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-21 PV Sindhu: Opening game Sindhu. Good dodging skills there as a smash came at her body.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 14-20 PV Sindhu: Sindhu was troubled a lot by the Goh drop in Birmingham. Happening again now. Watch out for that in game 2. But the Indian now has game points.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 13-19 PV Sindhu: Signs that we could be in for a really good 2nd game. Goh is finding her rhythm. Both players are warned for trying to slow the pace.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 9-19 PV Sindhu: Some signs of what Goh is good at. A really solid rally where she moved Sindhu well and closed the point out with a backhand net shot.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 8-15 PV Sindhu: Sindhu’s net-play is impressive this phase of play. Showing good control of the shuttle... as I say that a fault called on Sindhu for going to the other side of the net to hit the shuttle. A rare long rally follows and Sindhu wins that.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 5-11 PV Sindhu: Errors from Goh, alright. And Sindhu has looked just solid so far. This is not how their last meeting went, if I recall. Goh made Sindhu work rather hard in Birmingham.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei 4-8 PV Sindhu: strong start by Sindhu.

MAS 2-0 IND, Goh Jin Wei vs PV Sindhu: Time for India’s, on paper, most winnable fixture of the tie. Sindhu has a 4-0 lead against Goh, a former world junior champion. They last met at the CWG *quarterfinals.

MAS 2-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 21-11 Srikanth Kidambi: Malaysia just need another point to confirm progression and India will be knocked out with a match left to play.

MAS 2-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 21-11 Srikanth Kidambi: The second game was barely a contest as Lee Zii Jia eases to a win in just 35 minutes.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 17-8 Srikanth Kidambi: That’s escalated quickly.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 15-7 Srikanth Kidambi: Lots of errors from Srikanth at the moment.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 13-7 Srikanth Kidambi: Lee remains in control.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 11-7 Srikanth Kidambi: Majestic deception at the net by Lee, shaping for a lift but playing a crosscourt winner to fool Srikanth. An error by the Indian next and it is a handy lead for Lee into the interval.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 9-7 Srikanth Kidambi: Much like the first game, Srikanth unable to build a run of points. He is there and thereabouts but unable to break free.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 7-3 Srikanth Kidambi: Utterly frustrating, a really good rally ends with a misjudgement by Sri as lets a shuttle drop well in when he was so close to it.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 6-3 Srikanth Kidambi: Unfortunately for India, Lee in the early lead. And he is looking really sharp now.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 3-3 Srikanth Kidambi: It is imperative for Srikanth to take the lead here in game 2. He is a much better front-runner than he is a chaser. A lovely rally makes it 3-3, Lee with a couple of great retrieves but sends the backhand long.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 21-16 Srikanth Kidambi: It was close for most part but Srikanth just let Lee get away in the middle part post interval.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 20-16 Srikanth Kidambi: SUPERB RALLY! Both players moving each other to the four corners expertly, and finally the winner comes from Sri, round-the-head smash. Longest rally, 37 shots. Two game points saved.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 20-14 Srikanth Kidambi: Srikanth not able to put together a run of points. Game points galore for Lee.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 18-13 Srikanth Kidambi: Srikanth gets the serve but gives it right back with a crosscourt error.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 16-12 Srikanth Kidambi: And just like that LZJ has pulled ahead.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 14-12 Srikanth Kidambi: Ah, there’s the frustrating Srikanth error just when it seemed he had the momentum. Could have levelled the scores, but a simple forehand is netted.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 11-10 Srikanth Kidambi: Increase of pace from Srikanth. Couldn’t quite make out what Gurusaidutt told him at the interval. But this is a good restart.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 11-8 Srikanth Kidambi: Misjudgment from Srikanth on Lee’s crosscourt lift and it is the Malaysian who has the lead going into the interval.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 10-8 Srikanth Kidambi: This is a good boxing contest at the moment. Punches and counter-punches.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 7-6 Srikanth Kidambi: The radar is firing from LZJ. Superb backhand defence to stay in the point and then kills it off with his smash.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 6-6 Srikanth Kidambi: Lee has levelled things up.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 5-2 Srikanth Kidambi: Srikanth has started well. The errors, for now, coming from Lee’s side.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia 1-1 Srikanth Kidambi: Srikanth with his class early on, lovely crosscourt winner. The last time these two met was a really tight 2-game win for Srikanth.

MAS 1-0 IND, Lee Zii Jia vs Srikanth Kidambi: Srikanth Kidambi vs Lee Zii Jia. World No 22 vs World No 8. The former world No 1 from India vs the recent world No 2 from Malaysia. Two enigmas in world badminton. Two fabulous, always fascinating, sometimes frustrating players to watch. This should be good.

MAS 1-0 IND, Goh / Lai 21-16, 21-17 Dhruv / Ashwini: And Goh / Lai convert their first match point. Credit to Dhruv and Ashwini for giving this a good go.

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 21-16, 20-17 Dhruv / Ashwini: A streaky net cord and miscommunication on the Indian side. Match points MAS.

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 21-16, 19-17 Dhruv / Ashwini: Anyway, this is a good second game and credit to the Indians for hanging in. They are not making it easy at all.

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 21-16, 18-16 Dhruv / Ashwini: Sorry, just a few more thoughts on this. If anything I’d have still played Tanisha/Sai and let them gain some more big-match experience. If we keep looking for these xD shortcuts, nothing is going to happen for the discipline in the country. And I actually was a huge fan of the Ashwini/Satwik pairing and wanted it to succeed/continue so badly. It had real promise and Ashwini deserved a good xD run. But just hasn’t worked out.

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 21-16, 15-10 Dhruv / Ashwini: Just going back to what Steen had said. Don’t necessarily agree with him but the fact that there is actually a strong case to be made that Ashwini-Satwik are STILL India’s best mixed doubles pair despite not playing together for years, in itself says a lot. Really need to look at growing that discipline.

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 21-16, 11-7 Dhruv / Ashwini: A four-point lead for MAS in the 2nd game interval. This is unlikely to go the distance.

I was going through the Sudirman Cup 2023 squads; Indonesia have decided to send three pairs, Malaysia has named four teams in their squad, while India have announced one pair: Sai Pratheek/ Tanisha Crasto. We do have Ashwini Ponnappa in the squad who has plenty of mixed doubles experience with Satwiksairaj. But Satwik hasn’t played any mixed doubles since 2021. Ishaan Bhatnagar’s unfortunate injury has paved the way for a new combination of Prateek/Tanisha, who are going into the tournament on the back of minimal tournament time.

In recent weeks, Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor are showing signs of being competitive, with their run at Asia Championships being impressive.

But at this point India have very little bench strength in mixed doubles.

Sai Pratheek, though, has the physical profile to be a high-quality mixed doubles player but relies too much on his drives and has to work on adding more blocks to his game. Bhatnagar, currently injured, has the skills and touch but doesn’t have the physical profile yet, something he can work on during rehabilitation.

Hariharan Amsakarunan again fits the profile with his high-intensity backcourt game. Chaynit Joshi, with his height and court coverage, is an exciting option but has yet to have the power to influence games. Dhruv Rawat, HV Nitin, and Navneet Bokka all have suitable profiles and have been around for a while but have yet to take the next step.

Tanisha Crasto is the best prospect and ticks all the boxes, but she has to pick one event at some point in time. Priya Devi is also up there and could be groomed with the right partner.

Ritika Thakker, Simran Singhi, Shruti Mishra, Kavya Gupta, and Khushi Gupta are players who haven’t taken the next step in women’s doubles. Some of them could be moved to mixed doubles full-time, and be groomed for the next Olympic cycle.

It is crucial that India creates a core team of 6-8 full-time mixed doubles pairs under a mixed doubles coaching team and set up an 18-month long-term development program; we have to start encouraging players to focus only on one event, but that can only happen if these pairs are training under one roof regularly and are funded to play at least ten tournaments a year with specific targets. Maybe in a couple of years we might have three mixed doubles pairs and even bench strength as the 2025 Sudirman Cup comes along.

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 21-16, 10-5 Dhruv / Ashwini: A largely similar pattern to the opening game. Even to start but the MAS pair are pulling away.

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 21-16, 4-4 Dhruv / Ashwini: Another even start to the 2nd game.

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 21-16 Dhruv / Ashwini: Opening game to Malaysians. Decent moments for the Indians but they look a yard off the pace against a top, top pair as you’d expect

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 17-13 Dhruv / Ashwini: Argument with the officials, the Indians think they have won the point off the net cord but a touch called on Dhruv’s racket before that.

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 17-13 Dhruv / Ashwini: Commentator Steen Pedersen with some interesting comments on air. He is wondering if Sudirman is top priority for Indians, because he thinks Satwik should have played with Ashwini here (and also the doubles).

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 11-8 Dhruv / Ashwini: ‘Except the last rally, you are playing well’ is the message at the break from Arun Vishnu if I heard correctly

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh / Lai 9-8 Dhruv / Ashwini: Errors from the Indians not surprisingly, they are playing for the first time as a pair. But staying in touching distance. The first proper rally of the match goes the Indians’ way with Ashwini playing a superb crosscourt at the net.

IND 0-0 MAS, Goh Soon Huat/ Lai Shevon Jemie 7-5 Dhruv Kapila / Ashwini Ponnappa: A good start for the Indians till 4-4 but the world No 8s are starting to pull ahead.

Here we go then, mixed doubles to start off with. Ashwini Ponnappa and Dhruv Kapila are nominated by India for this one against the world No 8 of Goh / Lai.

Line-up for India vs Malaysia: Dhruv and Ashwini to play XD, instead of Sai / Tanisha. Srikanth replaces Prannoy to face Lee Zii Jia. Sindhu will start favourite vs former junior world champ Goh Jin Wei. And the big one, world champs Aaron / Soh will take on Satwik / Chirag. The women’s doubles also promises to be a fascinating clash.

TPE 4-1 IND recap: The highs and lows of the team event... India could have well started with a win but instead, things didn’t go to plan. Five hard-fought matches for the most part and each one could have gone the other way. They had a match point in the opening mixed doubles match. In reality they needed one of the two blockbuster singles ties to go their way and then win both the doubles matches in the end. Wasn’t to be. Sindhu emerged as a positive with her peformance against Tai Tzu Ying, as did Treesa and Gayatri, the solitary winners for India.

Indian squad for Sudirman Cup Finals:

Men’s singles: HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth (Reserve: Lakshya Sen)

Women’s singles: PV Sindhu, Anupama Upadhyaya (Reserve: Aakarshi Kashyap)

Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila

Women’s doubles: Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly, Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto

Mixed doubles: Tanisha Crasto/Sai Pratheek

Before we look at today’s fixtures in Sudirman Cup, a throwback. 15 May 2022. It’s been a year since India won the Thomas Cup in Bangkok.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Indian badminton from the Sudirman Cup Finals.

It wasn’t the start that India would have wanted in the Sudirman Cup on Sunday. In their opening match in Group C, India suffered a 1-4 loss to Chinese Taipei in a closely-contested tie which really could have gone either way.

Instead, India take on two-time semi-finalists Malaysia in a clash which they cannot afford to lose. Malaysia comfortably beat Australia 5-0 in their opener and know that a win will secure their place in the quarter-finals alongside Chinese Taipei, who sit on top of the group having beaten Australia earlier today.

Here’s the standings in Group C ahead of IND vs MAS

Screenshots in the blog via BWF TV / Tournament Software / Viacom18