Indian women assured themselves of a medal at the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) as they cruised past Hong Kong 3-0 in the quarterfinals at Shah Alam in Malaysia on Friday. But it was heartbreak for Indian men as they lost to Japan in the quarterfinals.
Indian men have won two bronze (2018, 2020), but this is a first for Indian women.
PV Sindhu, Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto and Ashmita Chaliha won the first three matches to seal the match. Stunning China and topping the group helped India draw a weaker team in the knockout stage.
Sindhu started the campaign with a hard-fought 21-7, 16-21, 21-12 victory over Lo Sin Yan. Despite losing the second game Sindhu dominated the other two games. Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto eased past Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam 21-10, 21-14. Ashmita trounced Yeung Sum Yee 21-12, 21-13.
INDIA FACE JAPAN IN LAST-FOUR STAGE
Japan defeated China 3-2. India can fancy their chances against Japan, who are without their top player Akane Yamaguchi.
Chief coach Pullela Gopichand lauded the women's achievement. "This a wonderful achievement for the women's team. To beat China in the group stage was quite an achievement. The entire team led by Sindhu came up with good effort. Hope to win our next matches and get a better medal," Gopichand said.
Indonesia will face Thailand in the other semifinal. Indonesia blanked Malaysia 3-0 and Thailand defeated Chinese Taipei 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
SO NEAR AND YET SO FAR
HS Prannoy went down to Kenta Nishimoto 16-21, 24-26. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura 21-15, 21-17 to make it 1-1. Lakshya Sen secured lead with a 21-19, 22-20 victory against Koki Watanabe. But Japan came back as Akira Koga and Kazuki Shibata drubbed MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila 21-17, 21-15.
In the decider, Kidambi Srikanth lost to Kento Momota 21-17, 9-21, 20-22. Srikanth was up 19-12 in the third game. However, Srikanth suffered an injury and Momota won eight straight points to make it 20-19 before winning the game and match at 22-20.
