India thrashed lowly Nepal 3-0 in the quarter-finals to secure a historic medal after 37 years in the men's team badminton event at the Asian Games.
In the women's section, defending champion Unnati Hooda, national champion Anupama Upadhyaya, Ashmita Chaliha, Imad Farooqui Samiya, Tasnim Mir reached the pre-quarterfinals.
The Indian men's team will face Chinese Taipei in group C of Thomas Cup Final later in the day.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will spearhead the women's challenge in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games while London Olympics bronze winner Saina Nehwal did not expectedly feature in the squads.
However, a tough contest awaits the former world No. 1 as he faces top seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan next.
Manjunath will play Taipei's Yu Jen, who was lucky to progress after fifth seed Rasmus Gemke retired in the second game after pocketing the first.
Bansod took just over half an hour to dispatch 16-year-old Tasnim in the pre-quarterfinals
Two-time Olympic-medallist P V Sindhu made a winning return from a lengthy injury lay-off as India stunned formidable China 3-2 in the women's competition of the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam, Malaysia on Wednesday.
Indian Mithun Manjunath stunned fourth seed and world number seven Kean Yew Loh of Singapore in the opening round while PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth secured straight-game wins.
Parupalli Kashyap entered the quarterfinals after top seed and Olympic champion Axelsen gave a walkover.
However, the tournament was over for fourth seed Sameer Verma after he retired hurt against Ireland's Nhat Nguyen.
In other India-related results, it was curtains for Ashmita Chaliha, who lost 17-21, 16-21 to Indonesia's world no. 7 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in 35 minutes. Both teams had received a bye in their opening match.
Indian men's team failed to defend its title after going down fighting 1-3 to China
India have been drawn with top seeds and defending champions China, Thailand and hosts Finland for the upcoming Sudirman Cup badminton tournament, making it a tough Group A for the side to negotiate.
Sindhu looked in complete control as she prevailed 21-15, 21-11 over world No. 36 Tan in a 29-minute match.
Unnati won 21-18, 21-11 to be crowned the Odisha Open champion for the first time.
Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will look to arrest their slump in form when they begin their campaign at the Australia Open badminton tournament in Sydney on Tuesday.
The top seeded Indian duo, who reached the semi-finals of the season-opening Malaysia Open super 1000, was scheduled to face Chinese Taipei's Su Ching Heng and Ye Hong Wei in the opening round.
Inspired by the peerless P V Sindhu and aspiring to be Indian badminton's aggressive new kid on the block. Tanvi Sharma is nothing like an average 15-year-old.
Indian women beat Thailand 3-2 in final, clinch historic gold in Badminton Asia Team Championships
Tasnim Mir, who earlier this month became the first Indian to claim world number one status in the U-19 category, beat Keyura Mopati 13-21, 21-14, 21-19 to set up a second round clash against Malvika Bansod.
The Indian men's team, led by Srikanth, had beaten powerhouse and 14-time champions Indonesia in the final to win the country's maiden Thomas Cup title on Sunday.
The 14-year-old Unnati pipped Malvika 24-22, 24-22 in a nail-biting 50-minute semifinal clash
The other men's singles semi-final match on Saturday will be played between Priyanshu Rajawat and Kaushal Dharmamer.
The core of the team remains the same with HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in good form and the Indian team would hope the rub of the green also goes their way when it begins campaign on Thursday.
India Open winner Lakshya Sen and Mithun Manjunath gave a good account of themselves.
P V Sindhu has made early exits in as many as seven of the 12 BWF World Tour events this year.
20-year-old Malvika Bansod, ranked 111th, took 34 minutes to register a straight games victory against former World No 1 Saina Nehwal.
The struggle of Indian women shuttlers on the BWF circuit is quite apparent, but Saina Nehwal backs her colleagues by saying that even the strong Chinese players are finding it difficult to dish out strong performances on a consistent basis and expressed hope that the lean patch of the singles players will end soon.
Sourabh Verma and Ajay Jayram also entered the second round
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games on Tuesday, October 3.
P V Sindhu said she still has lots to learn and needs to add a few more shots to her repertoire to dominate world badminton.
Saina showed signs of regaining her form on her way to a sensational win over Chinese world number 9 He Bing Jiao
India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Monday, October 2.
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, on Thursday, September 28.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Track and field athletes, who were leading the Indian charge in the past few days, fetched the maximum 12 medals but just two of them were gold.
India is being represented by 487 athletes in more than 15 disciplines.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
