3 min readApr 9, 2026 03:46 PM IST
“There’s nothing you can do about it,” coach Sagar Chopda at the Bangalore Centre of Excellence where Ayush Shetty and PV Sindhu train, says, with gnashing teeth. The first three days of the Badminton Asia Championships at Ningbo have been terribly frustrating for Indians, with blithering line calls on several courts inflecting crucial points.
On Thursday, HS Prannoy suffered twice in the second set. And though Weng Hong Yang might still have won, the Indian’s propensity to come back in the second set and launch fightbacks from there can’t be ignored.v
“It’s 2026 and I still can’t believe there is no Hawkeye’ in court 2 for a Super 1000 event,” Prannoy tweeted. The continental championships where Prannoy has a bronze previously, are a prestigious event, but the Asian events typically end up being amateurish. For one, forget broadcast, even a live stream is hard to find. And for another, event Court 2 with Chinese Weng Hong Yang playing did not have a decision review system or Hawkeye for line calls.
It’s 2026 and I still can’t believe there is no Hawkeye in court 2 for a Super 1000 event 🤦🏻🤯
— PRANNOY HS (@PRANNOYHSPRI) April 9, 2026
Prannoy lost 21-12, 21-19, but anyone who knows his style of play will know the critical junctures tend to be end of Set 2. At a critical moment here, Prannoy’s shuttle landed in, at the back left corner, and was given IN. Then Went, the local player pointed to the spot, objected, and the decision was overruled just like that in favour of the home player. After Prannoy pulled one back and had the momentum, Weng took forever to receive serve and Prannoy’s pleas to hurry him up were blatantly ignored.
A jumping, fist pumping Weng would win the last point and be met with a cold hand shake at the net, as a livid Prannoy walked off.
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Earlier, Sindhu would point repeatedly at a shuttle that had drifted out but her requests to reconsider were rebuffed – with absolute silence and not even registered by the chair umpire. Her opponent – Wang Zhi Yi of China.
On Wednesday, when Ayush Shetty took on Li Shifeng there were at least three calls on the back and side lines that either went against him, or worse, were overturned to favour the local. That, Ayush still won showed his solid game, but he was very close to exploding in rage before he let it go.
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“The overruled calls were hilarious. I mean it’s known to happen nationally, but at the highest level is incredulous,” Chopda said. “There’s tech available. It’s blatant. And it invariably happens at crucial moments,” he added.
Ayush led Shifeng 18-13, when the horrific line call was dispensed. It became 18-16 as the lead got whittled down, though he prevailed in the end.
Sindhu too had no recourse to reviews or even basic consideration by the chair, and was up against whimsy of linespersons and the chair at 18-19. She eventually lost 21-18, 21-8.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
