The last time the Indian men won a medal in a team competition was in Seoul in 1986, where Sen's coaches Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar were instrumental.
Digital Desk: India lost to China, a badminton superpower, 3-1, and finished with their first-ever silver medal in the men's team championships at the Asian Games on Sunday.
Following the withdrawal of world No. 7 Prannoy due to a back ailment, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty of the doubles team, along with Lakshya Sen of the opening singles, put India ahead 2-0 with courageous performances.
Consequently, Srikanth was once more left to bear the team's weight.
The former world No. 1, who had put in a tough performance against South Korea in the semifinals, was unable to prevail this time despite having a sizable lead and numerous game points because China fought back to make it 1-2.
The two remaining games were won by the reigning champions, who were able to keep control of the Asian Games.
Sen took over as the Indian team's captain after Prannoy was forced to withdraw from the top match owing to a back injury.
Sen overcame a downturn in the middle of the match to defeat world No. 6 Shi Yuqi in an 83-minute opening brawl, winning 22-20 14-21 21-18, and giving India the lead.
Satwik and Chirag, the world No. 3 men's doubles team, then went on a smashing binge to surpass the world No. 2 pair. Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang defeated one another 21-15 21-18 in 55 minutes to take a 2-0 lead.
But in the third singles match against All England winner Li Shifeng, Srikanth blew an 18-14 lead and several game points in the first set to lose 22-24 9-21, exposing India's weakest link: the second doubles and third singles matches.
India came in second place after losing the scratch pair of Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek Krishna Prasad to Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi (6-21, 15-21), while Mithun Manjunath, who replaced Prannoy, lost to world No. 20 Weng Hong Yang (12-21, 4-21) in the third singles.
Despite the defeat, the Indian team made a respectable effort, claiming the country's second badminton silver medal at the continental championships, following PV Sindhu's victory in the women's singles event in the 2018 competition.
The last time the Indian men won a medal in a team competition was in Seoul in 1986, where Sen's coaches Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar were instrumental.
India now holds 11 medals in badminton at the Asian Games, comprising three medals in singles play, one silver, three bronzes in team play, two bronzes in women's play, and one medal in each of men's doubles and mixed doubles.
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