It wasn’t the cliche of a choke, but on the contrary, a gust from an A/C blower that saw Anmol Kharb go from leading 21-19, 13-21, 11-2 to losing that last set 18-21 against former Olympic champion Chen Yufei.
“No excuses, I’m really not happy and very disappointed with how I played after 11-2 up,” Anmol would say, after her Round 1 hopes of a Top 5 scalp went up in the air literally at the Super 500 Thailand Open. “I feel like this was my match. But I got to know after the loss that my shuttle control is not good at all. I need power in my smashes, because she was picking up everything and needed speed on the court,” said the 18-year-old, who was beating herself up over the lost opportunity.
Yufei is perhaps the toughest opponent mentally and tactically that Anmol has played up till now, but the Haryanvi was confident of giving a fight going into the match. “I had played her in Singapore and it was a close 23-21 match too. I knew I could give her a tough fight,” she said of the Tokyo Olympics champion, who had defeated Tai Tzu Ying in that final.
Anmol, who won the National Badminton title at 16, and then proceeded to help India claim the women’s Asian team title, had put the Chinese former World No 1 under the pump with a spirited display to lead 21-19, 13-21, 11-2. But a change in sides, and an A/C blower would send her earlier effective tosses long, as she gave away 19 points thereafter and managed to score only 7.
She didn’t blame the drift – Anmol simply said she was not good enough yet, to control the shuttle in suddenly windy conditions.”At 11-2, I was 70% sure I could win. But when the sides changed, I made a lot of unforced errors. I’m very angry about those,” she said.
Out of control
She did try everything that involved keeping the shuttle away from Yufei—who herself had lapsed to 2-11 due to the same drift. When Anmol slowed it down, the smashes were going to Yufei’s hand, when she pushed them parallel, they were floating out over the baseline.
You don’t become an Olympic champion by giving up at 2-11 in the first round of a Super 500, where you are seeded second. Yufei was meticulous in not lifting, and did everything to simply pull Anmol to the net, knowing the shuttles were flying out of bounds above her head.
The A/C blowers weren’t consistent either.
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Anmol’s basic strategy had been to get Yufei moving around. “She has great wrists. Anything in her hand is finished for the opponent,” Anmol described. Playing a rich mix of fearless half smashes to the front court and attacking tosses and clears to the back, she managed to wrong foot the Chinese known for her stellar footwork. Anmol peppered her with loopy tosses and clears, but it was the cross drops and half smashes that had the Chinese stuttering in two minds at the front court.
The Chinese pumping her fist and roaring towards the end – was a clear sign that Anmol had her in a bind, sending her back and front. The attacking tosses packed Yufei back, the slices and drops tugged her front. “When the sides changed, I couldn’t hot the tosses for winners. Slow ones were going to midcourt. Only option was the net – where she’s much better than me,” Anmol would accede.
Anmol, always up against the canniest shuttlers of the last decade, saw Yufei raise her pace, smack a few shoulder heavy smashes down the flanks, and watch Anmol crumble in a pool of errors. Her inability to switch up plans, even as the tosses floated out, showed up one solitary clear gap in the game. “I should’ve played more safely,” she would say ruefully.
Other results: Kidambi Srikanth bt Loh Kean Yew 21-14, 21-15; PV Sindhu bt Tung Ciou-Tong 21-9, 21-12; Lakshya Sen bt Jia Heng Jason Teh, 21-16, 21-17; Ayush Shetty lost to (6) Kodai Naraoka 13-21, 21-17, 4-21; Tharun Mannepalli bt Koki Watanabe,21-12, 21-16; Devika Sihag bt Natsuki Nidaira 21-19, 13-21, 21-15; Unnati Hooda lost to Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-11, 17-21, 16-21; Tanvi Sharma lost to Hina Akechi, 21-17, 21-8.
