As India won a historic first title at the Badminton Asia Team Championships on Sunday and PV Sindhu and Anmol Kharb stood next to each other on the podium, we got a picture that spoke the proverbial thousand words. The difference between the two is visually stark: Anmol is, after all, a head shorter than Sindhu. There is also a rank difference between their careers. Sindhu is Indian badminton's bona fide legend with a decade of brilliance behind her; Anmol is just starting out, playing her first major senior international tournament for India.
This entire week, though, these differences peeled away as world No 11 Sindhu and world No 472 Anmol bookended India's run to a historic gold. Sindhu played the first match of ties to start strong, Anmol played the last and deciding match to win the whole thing. Even when Sindhu suffered a setback in the semis, Anmol took up the onus of delivering the win.
So, as they stood there, shoulder to shoulder on podium, it was a mark of what is and what can be for women's badminton in India.
The bridge between generations, the gap in India's women's singles bench strength had long been seen as an abyss, but we now can see it as a stepping-stone. This win is a sign that there is an answer to that oft-asked question of who next after Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, even if the answers are young and will need time.
The significance of a women's team title to Indian badminton in the year 2024 cannot be understated. As successful as Indian badminton has been in the last few years, this win is still very much the story of underdogs scripting a fairytale win. A young group that overturned the odds against teams they've lost to recently, rookies punching much above their weight.
Challenge 1 - A young team
It may sound silly in hindsight but going into the tournament, there were very little expectations from the India women's team. Not like the ones from the men's team, the reigning Thomas Cup champions and Asian Games silver medallists.
This was a largely young and very inexperienced unit looking to gain valuable game time at the highest level:
PV Sindhu: a veteran and a champion, but one coming in with uncertain form after a four-month injury layoff.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand: two 20-year-olds who had form and fitness concerns in a very forgettable 2023 season.
Ashmita Chaliha: 24-years-old once seen as the heir apparent in women's singles but has struggled with matching talent with consistency.
Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto: A pair only a year old on the circuit who'd become India No 1... but then Tanisha suffered an injury right before the semifinal.
Anmol Kharb: Only 17 and ranked 472 in the world, one who became the national champion in December and had never played a major event for India before.
Priya Devi Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra: newly-minted national champions together but inexperienced at the biggest stage.
Tanvi Sharma: a 15-year-old runner up at the national championships.
Challenge 2 - A tricky draw
There was a stroke of luck involved in the draw when India were assured of a quarterfinal berth as China was the only other team in their group. But from then on, India made their own fortune.
First, they beat China (3-2), the tie where Anmol announced herself with her first win in a decider. It was a crucial win, for it meant they won the group and played Hong Kong in the quarters. Who they beat 3-0.
In the semis, there were up against Japan, who had knocked out top seeds China in the other quarters. And they stunned the much-favoured Japanese: fearless youth winning a tie where Sindhu lost both her matches.
India women stun Japan to reach historic final as young talent punch above their weight
Admittedly both China and Japan were not at full strength, but even then, had players ranked higher and who were far more seasoned than their Indian counterparts.
Challenge 3 - the final nemesis
Then came the final, against Thailand. A team India had lost to in the quarterfinals if major team events in the last two years. At the 2022 Uber Cup, a Ratchanok Intanon-led Thailand had beaten India 3-0. At the 2023 Asian Games, Thailand had won 3-0 even without Intanon. Both were clean sweeps that hurt and raised more questions on India's women's depth.
In 2024, India flipped the script when it was least expected.
India beat Thailand to win first ever Badminton Asia Team Championships title
It started with Sindhu getting the better of leftie Supanida Katethong, then Treesa-Gayatri prevailing in a thriller against World no. 10 pair Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (who they had lost to 4 times). And then came Anmol Kharb, doing what we can now call Anmol Kharb things.
A first ever BATC medal. But more importantly, a first team medal for a new generation to build on.
The true meaning of gold
To truly understand the value of this medal, a quick lookback is needed.
A decade ago, it was the women's team that spearheaded the success of Indian badminton. Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, and the doubles pair of Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa were world-class players with Olympic and World Championship medals to their name in the 2010s. When the men's team won a Thomas Cup medal for the first time in 2022; the women's team already had two Uber Cup medals (bronzes in 2014 and 2016).
Suddenly, though, it all went downhill with Jwala and Saina fading away, and Sindhu, the last remaining Indian at the top of the women's game struggling with injury all through last year. There were many young women coming up, but none could match up to the benchmark set by their seniors. That included the likes of 20-somethings Ashmita, Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap (still journeywomen looking to crack the top 20 and play on the BWF Tour consistently) and teenagers like Anupama Upadhyaya and Unnati Hooda, who have been part of the Indian team but could not make a big difference in the limited chances.
Not like this team has now in Malaysia.
At the India Open last month, national coach Gopichand was asked about this pipeline problem when and pointed out at Anmol and Tanvi saying there is young talent coming up but that needs some time. "There are a bunch of youngsters who are doing well, we have a sub junior player who won the senior nationals, another 15-year-old in the final. I think we have some young talent coming up the ranks and I am hoping that in the next couple of years we will be able to showcase some good women's singles as well," he told reporters.
What even the veteran coach may not have anticipated is how quickly their time would come. About a month after this conversation, Anmol has shown that the hype about young potential has meaning.
Of course, this is just the start of the journey for Anmol and the next rung of Indian women's badminton talent. Skill, dynamism, and the fearlessness of youth only get you so far, the next step of consistency is far more difficult: just ask Ashmita, who had a great win in the semis and struggled to get going in the final.
But this gold medal, won by the combination of youth and experience is a massive step in the right direction. It's tangible proof of India's bench strength and will be a boost for these players when they are back on the grind of the BWF Tour.
We saw what the Thomas Cup win did for the Indian men's team and the hope will be that this BATC medal can be a similar catalyst for the women's team.