New Delhi: It was not a good day for Indian shuttlers as both men’s and women’s teams suffered defeats at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Qingdao, China, on Friday.
India’s men lost 3-2 to Japan after leading 2-0. Ayush Shetty gave India a strong start by beating Kenta Nishimoto 21-18, 15-21, 21-11. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the doubles 21-18, 15-21, 21-12 against Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.
Japan staged a comeback in the remaining matches. HS Prannoy lost his singles match to Yushi Tanaka 17-21, 11-21.
The Indian pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy lost the second doubles match to Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi 14-21, 10-21. In the decider, Tharun Manepalli lost to Koki Watanabe 21-12, 14-21, 11-21, according to Badminton Asia.
Earlier, India’s women’s team also went down 3-2 to Thailand in the group stage of the tournament. Teenager Tanvi Sharma put India ahead by beating Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-14, 17-21, 21-18 in 63 minutes. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand extended India’s lead in the first doubles 21-14, 20-22, 21-11.
Thailand won the next three matches to seal the tie. Rakshitha Sree Santosh Ramraj went down 19-21, 17-21 to Pitchamon Opatniputh.
Tanisha Crasto and Shruti Mishra fell in three games against Hathaithip Mijad and Napapakorn Tungkasatan. Malvika Bansod lost the decider 18-21, 14-21 to Pornpicha Choeikeewong.
India finished as runners-up in their group and will face China in the quarterfinals.
