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India men’s team defeated Hong Kong in the group stage clash to advance to the quarterfinal stage of the Badminton Asian Championships on Wednesday, February 14 in Shah Alam, Malaysia. The Indian team came from behind to secure a 4-1 victory over their counterparts after HS Prannoy lost the first encounter. The World Number 7 went down to Ng Ka Long Angus in two straight sets of 18-21, 14-21 as Hong Kong got their first point in the game.
The India men’s team then went ahead to sweep the rest of their opposition team in four straight games and secured a 4-1 victory for India. India’s men’s doubles duo of Satwik and Chirag, fondly called ‘Brothers of Destruction’ followed Prannoy to dismiss the Hong Kong pair of Lui-Yeung 21-16, 21-11. They were followed by Lakshya Sen, who defeated Chan Yin Chak with 21-14, 21-9. The rising Indian duo of Arjun and Dhruv Kapila extended India’s tally to 3-1 by dismantling their counterparts 21-12, 21-7. Kidambi Srikanth sealed the deal with victory over Jason Gunawan by beating him 21-14, 21-18.
India women’s team enter quarterfinals as table toppers; beat China 3-2
The Indian women’s team took down China 3-2 in the group stage clash, which saw the two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu make a comeback after a four-month injury lay-off. World number 11th ranked player led India to a 1-0 lead after defeating world-ranked eighth Han Yue 21-17, 21-15 in just 40 minutes. Soon after the clash, India women faced a setback as Tanisha Castro-Ashwini Ponappa slumped to Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning 19-21, 16-21.
India’s losing streak continued as Ashmita Chaliha lost to world number nine Wang Zhi Yi 13-21, 15-21 . The PV Sindhu-featuring team drew level with Teresa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand beat the Chinese duo of Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min 10-21, 21-18, 21-17, forcing a decider. In the final round, Anmol Kharb secured a sounding win over Wu Luo Yu 22-20, 14-21, 21-18, to guide the side to a memorable triumph.
