Asian Games 2023: How Indian shuttlers fared at the tournament

The Asian Games 2023 will, without a doubt, go down as a landmark event in Indian badminton history. Indian shuttlers returned with a record three medals, one of each color, scripting many firsts for the country.

Starting out with the team events, the Indian women's team was in action first, going all the way to the quarterfinals before falling short against Thailand in a 0-3 loss.

Given PV Sindhu's recent dip in form, this result, although disappointing, wasn't exactly surprising.

On the other hand, the Indian men's team made it all the way to the finals before bowing out to China. The gold-medal match was a thrilling affair where India took a promising 2-0 lead, with Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty winning the first two matches.

However, the team was unable to convert on the lead after a lacklustre performance from Srikanth Kidambi, which gave China the space they needed. This was followed by expected losses from the doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila/Krishna Prasad and Mithun Manjunath.

India did walk away with a historic silver, the country's first in the Asian Games team events.

Asian Games 2023: Indian shuttlers at the individual events

Meanwhile, Indian shuttlers had a slow start to the individual events, with multiple players dropping out in the initial rounds.

The duo of MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila lost their first match, while the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy were forced to give a walkover due to health issues.

Pairs Tanisha Crasto/Sai Pratheek, Treesa Jolly/Gayathri Gopichand, Ashwini Ponnappa/ Tanisha Crasto, and women's singles player Ashmita Chaliha failed to clear round two.

Ex-world number one Srikanth Kidambi lost his pre-quarters clash to recent World Championships silver-medalist and second seed Kodai Naraoka.

PV Sindhu, who was the silver medalist at the 2018 Asian Games, made a quarterfinal exit after a straight-game loss against Chinese fourth seed He Bing Jiao.

HS Prannoy, who was India's best hope of a medal in the men's singles event, struggled with a back injury but managed to make it to the semifinals. He did so after an incredibly difficult match against Malaysia's Lee Zee Jia.

He lost his semi-final match to eventual champion Li Shi Feng, but ended India's 41-year-long drought for a medal in the men's singles event of the Asian Games.

The dynamic duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were undoubtedly India's star performers at the Asian Games. After a strong showing in the team matches, they stormed to the gold in the men's doubles individual event.

This marks India's first-ever badminton gold at the Asiad, cementing Rankireddy and Shetty's name in Indian sporting history.

This collection of gold, silver, and bronze is India's best showing at the games in badminton and marks an important victory ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.