Indian men overcame a strong challenge from Singapore, while the women dominated Myanmar in their opening group stage matches to secure quarterfinal berths in the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Qingdao, China on Wednesday.
Key Points
- The defending champions swept Myanmar 5-0, winning all singles and doubles matches in straight games to make a commanding start.
- India now face runners-up Thailand, a stronger challenge that will likely decide momentum in the group stage.
Singles seal early control
The defending champions swept Myanmar 5-0, winning all singles and doubles matches in straight games to make a commanding start. India now face runners-up Thailand, a stronger challenge that will likely decide momentum in the group stage.
Taking the court first, Tanvi Sharma took just 32 minutes to beat Thet Htar Thuzar 21-13, 21-16 before Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj defeated Eaint Chit Phoo 21-12, 21-6 in the second singles to take a 2-0 lead.
Malvika Bansod then sealed the tie for India as she got the better of Lin Lin Htet 21-19 21-12 in the third singles.
Doubles dominance completes sweep
The Indians continued their domination in doubles as well winning both the matches in straight games.
The pair of Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra defeated Su Latt and Thet Htar Thuzar 21-15, 21-16 before Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand hardly broke a sweat to get past the combination of Htet and Phoo 21-8, 21-6.
India will play last edition's runner-up side Thailand in their second group match on Thursday.
Srikanth seals India’s nail-biting win over Singapore
The men's Group C clash between India and Singapore went down to the wire, with former world number 1 Kidambi Srikanth coming up with a clinical performance in the third men's singles against Jia Wei Joel Koh.
Srikanth won 21-15, 21-16 to ensure that the Indian men's team began their campaign with a win and assured themselves of a last eight spot, as Singapore had lost their first group game against Japan 1-4.
India's match did not get off to the desired start, as Lakshya Sen went down 21-16, 19-21, 21-16 against former world champion Loh Kean Yew.
But Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty restored parity with a 21-10, 21-8 win over Eng Keat Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo 21-10, 21-8 and Ayush Shetty then defeated Jia Heng Jason Teh 21-17, 21-15 to give India the lead.
The second doubles combination of Pruthvi Roy and K Sai Pratheek almost sealed the match for India as they easily won the opening game against Nge Joo Jie and Donovan Willand Wee before going down 21-8, 21-23, 20-22.
This meant that Srikanth had to find a way to beat Koh, and the experienced campaigner did that in style.
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