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India women lose to China; crash out of Badminton Asia Team Championship

Last updated on: February 06, 2026 11:49 IST

Tanvi Sharma

IMAGE: World No. 42 Tanvi Sharma was beaten by China's Gao Fang Jie in straight games in the first match of the Badminton Asia Team Championships quarter-finals. Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points

India women had won the gold medal in the previous edition of the Badminton Asia Team Championships in 2024.
P V Sindhu missed the tournament because of a niggle.
Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly were beaten in the doubles.

India's title defence in the women's team event came to a disappointing end after a 0-3 loss to a second-string China in the quarter-finals of the Badminton Asia Team Championships, in Qingdao, on Friday.

India had won a historic gold medal in the previous edition in 2024, but the absence of the talismanic P V Sindhu due to a niggle made the task of defending the title a tough one.

World No. 42 Tanvi Sharma, who had been leading the charge in the first singles with two wins earlier in the tournament, failed to provide a positive start, losing 9-21, 9-21

to World No. 10 Gao Fang Jie in a lop-sided opener.

The doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly then put up a spirited fight before going down 22-24, 18-21 to the world No.4 combination of Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian, as China took a decisive 2-0 lead.

Facing a do-or-die situation, Rakshitha Ramraj battled hard against Xu Wen Jing in the second singles but eventually lost 14-21, 21-15, 17-21 in a 69-minute contest.

India had begun their campaign with a 5-0 sweep of Myanmar before suffering a narrow 2-3 defeat to Thailand in their final group tie on Thursday.

The Indian men's team will face South Korea in the quarter-finals later in the day.

India have opted not to field top singles player Lakshya Sen, with Ayush Shetty slated to take on Yoo Tae Bin in the opening men's singles of the tie.

Lakshya did not feature in India's previous tie against Japan and had earlier lost to former World champion Loh Kean Yew during the group-stage encounter against Singapore.

India will also miss Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who is returning home to attend his father's first death anniversary. In his absence, Chirag Shetty will partner Hariharan Amsakarunan in the first men's doubles.

Former World championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth is set to face Choi Ji Hoon in the second singles. Pruthvi Krishnan and Sai Pratheek will contest the second doubles, while Tharun Mannepalli will play Cho Hyeon Woo in the third singles.