The men’s doubles, both 21, and barely entering Top 50, will learn their lessons fast. But for India’s Top 20 shuttlers, this plummeting of fortunes will be tough to swallow.

India has never won a Sudirman Cup medal – probably the toughest team event that tests a country’s capability (top range, not depth) in each of the five disciplines. But Sunday made it plain that not much was going to change with the available set of players, with Satwik-Chirag and Treesa-Gayatri not travelling due to injuries.

Tanisha and Dhruv Kapila were declared team captains, but the freshly minted Top 20s got a swatting reminder of what Top 10s in mixed doubles is. Playing Danish World No 7s Jesper Toft and Amalie Magelund, the Indians ranked No.17, were never the favourites. But the young duo will need to learn to compose their nerves quickly, and hit the road running in any tournament. Defensively tentative, and overwhelmed by the stage, the top pairing which has been making some headway on the circuit, could not stem the flow of points as the Danes, got cracking quickly and never took the foot off the pedal in a 21-13, 21-14 win in 33 minutes.

There had been some debate over whether Lakshya Sen stood a better chance than Prannoy against Anders Antonsen. Given their recent form, But the second-best Dane who turned 28 on the day, weathered a Prannoy second set storm where the Indian amped up the pace, and hit some well-positioned down the line smashes.

But Prannoy struggled in an area that has been daunting him through the past few seasons — he just couldn’t go toe to toe with Antonsen after the 11th point break, and faded off 21-15, 21-16 in 49 blistering minutes. Dominating an individual rally he managed, stringing together a bunch of points, he couldn’t. What’s been depressing for India in the leadup is that Sen too has been out-manouvered in the endgame by Antonsen, a strangely resilient, heel-digging player despite his restless antics.

The men’s doubles team lost 21-7, 21-4 in 21 minutes against former World No.1s Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen. They have the heart for a battle, but were just far too taken in by the enormity of the occasion (and replacing Satwik-Chirag), to be able to settle down and regain their poise. Aggression and speed in flat games is all very well but not when the defense disappears.

PV Sindhu led Line Kjaersfeldt 20-16 in the opening set. Then she frittered 6 points in the most irrational fashion to cede the opener 22-20. You would think she had regained her equilibrium leading 19-12 in the second set, but this time it was 8 straight points she allowed her opponent to snatch a win, in one of the biggest capitulations of her career.

It was literally the lack of application in finishing the job, as she got waylaid by the leads and hoped for the last few points to fall in her lap. The Danish European champion stuck to basics, and sauntered past a crumbling opponent who had no clue about why she was crumbling. Commentators talking of her need to polish her skills and constant changing of coaches, was the final nail in the coffin, though the problem was specifically in finishing, turning the proverbial knife.

Nothing to lose

Shruti and Tanisha had nothing to lose — not much to win either. And that seemed to liberate them from the pressure as they took to the court beaming away at the opportunity to play badminton. Natasjia Anthonisen and Alexandra Boje were really no match to the scratch Indian pair, who matched aggression with execution. At one point, Mishra and Crasto converged and the former literally tackled her partner, pushing her inadvertently while chasing the shuttle to the back court.

She won that point with spunk, and the duo couldn’t stop grinning after that episode, haranguing the Danes with fast flat exchanges and cheeky net cord points. Maybe Indian badminton just needs players who enjoy the tiny skirmishes of each point against opponents and don’t think too far ahead. Against formidable Indonesia, maybe Sindhu, Lakshya & Co could simply pursue that joie de vivre – the opportunity to represent India at a team event – and not stress the big stuff. Because pressure isn’t doing them any good.