Coach Gurusaidutt: Celebrate Asian Games Bronze, Key for Individuals

'We should celebrate bronze, important ahead of individuals': Badminton coach Guru Sai Dutt

Ichinomiya, Sep 24

He added that this bronze medal will give the Indian shuttlers the much-needed confidence ahead of the individual events.

"This medal is very important for us as a team. Going forward for individuals, this medal will give a lot of confidence for the players to take the momentum towards the individual events," Gurusaidutt told IANS.

The Indian men's team lost to China in the semifinals 1-3 but won successive medals at the Asiad after clinching a silver at the 2023 Hangzhou Games.

"Badminton at the Asian Games is as good as the Olympics. Getting a medal is always tough here, and doing it back-to-back is commendable. The boys have been doing well over the last four years as a team, winning the Thomas Cup, this Asian Games and last Asian Games too. We were close to beating China; maybe different conditions would probably have helped us. But fantastic effort from the team," he added.

The coach heaped praise on the Indian team for having a blend of experience and youth and looked ahead at the individual events.

"We have a balanced team; Lakshya is a senior player now, Ayush is a young guy with form. Then we have Satwik and Chirag, two very experienced ones, and then we have Hariharan and Arjun. On the bench we have Prannoy, Srikanth and Tarun. We do have a great team, and they have performed well.

"I think we have a very good chance in the singles, in both men's singles and women's singles and also in the doubles with Satwik and Chirag, the defending champions.

"We have to be celebrating the bronze and not the loss of the semifinal; that's what Gopi sir is also saying. We have won a bronze; that should give us confidence. I am confident these guys will do well in the individuals and probably crack a medal," he added.

Meanwhile, India's doubles player Hariharan Amsakarunan was also pleased to win a medal on his Asian Games debut. "I'm very happy to be a part of the Asian Games team. This is my first Asian Games as well. I feel like this team was a really good team.

"I'm a part of the team. I'm very happy to be a part of the team. Yesterday was like... That day we could not play that fully. But we tried our best. It was like a prestigious game of the Asian Games. We won the bronze," Hariharan told IANS.

He dedicated the medal to all of his supporters and thanked Gopichand for the support. "I dedicate it to all of them, my supporters, everybody.

I dedicate it to all of them. I thank Gopi sir and the coach as well. They are the ones who are supporting us. Supporters, staff and every team. My family and my coaches as well. My past coaches. Many coaches have worked there. I dedicate it to them, all of them," he said.

Meanwhile, men's team player Tharun Mannepalli also thanked the teammates for the second straight men's team medal. "First of all, I would like to thank all my teammates who have been part of this journey. This is a very special moment for me, winning a bronze medal. Winning a medal for India as a team means a lot.

"We stand together as a team, and we fought together, and we have achieved a medal in the team event. So, I thank every teammate and the coaches and the support staff who supported me," he said.

— IANS