As Indian badminton rejoiced in its unprecedented success in an epoch-making season, the young Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun, too, quietly turned a corner to emerge as the country’s second-best men’s doubles pair. Dhruv, 22, from Punjab, and 25-year-old Arjun from Kerala may not have reached the dizzying heights as their more accomplished compatriots Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (ranked 5th), but the duo had enough sting in its performance to rise from world number 42 to 19 in past 12 months.
Wins over more fancied opponents, quarterfinal finishes in big world tour events, including the BWF World Championships, and the tag of a Thomas Cup winner have given them the self-belief to push the envelope further in 2023.
“I would rank Thomas Cup win high up there even though we didn’t play in the knockout stage.
“Our world championships performance also stands out, to make the quarterfinals was a big deal.” “We also did well in Indonesia Super 1000 (second round), Singapore 500 (quarterfinal), and won an India challenger, the performances have given us confidence that we are progressing,” Dhruv added.
In Singapore Open, the duo stunned world number 10 Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin before losing in three games to the world number 2 Indonesian combination of Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan.
Read more: https://sports.ndtv.com/badminton/injured-mr-arjun-to-miss-malaysia-open-but-eyeing-win-in-thailand-to-set-up-olympic-qualification-3660173
