New Delhi, February 14: Indian women’s team upset the mighty Chinese while the men got the better of Hong Kong to march into the quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Team Championships being played at Selangor, Malaysia, on Wednesday.
The women, led by two-time Olympic medallists PV Sindhu, defeated China for the first time in a team event with 17-year-old Anmol Kharab coming up with an inspired performance to ensure a 3-2 score line in the Indian’s favour in the Group W clash.
Later, the men defeated Hong Kong 4-1 to assure themselves of a top-two finish from Group A.
But the talking point of the day was definitely the women’s team upset of China. Sindhu, coming back from a long injury lay-off, showed that she was not just regaining her form but also her confidence as she won the opening game against Han Yue comfortably and then turned around a 10-13 deficit by winning 11 of the next 13 points to give India the lead.
Though the doubles combination of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa and singles player Ashmita Chaliha put up a brave fight, they could not avoid India falling back 1-2 behind.
However, All England semi-finalists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand then fought back from a game down against world no. 22 combination Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min to win 10-21, 21-18, 21-17 in an hour and nine minutes to restore parity.
All eyes were then on national champion Anmol, who was playing in the competition for the first time. In a closely contested opening game, the 17-year-old kept her nerves under pressure from Wu Luo Yu to convert her second game point and draw first blood.
It looked like the pressure was getting to the teenager as she lost the second game and trailed 1-5 at the start of the third. However, she stuck to her game plan of keeping the shuttle in play and wrapped up the match the rubber with three straight points, 22-20, 14-21, 21-18.
With just two teams in Group W, India will qualify for the quarterfinals as the top team.
Reacting to the team’s victory, Badminton Association of India General Secretary Sanjay Mishra said, “It is a special feeling to see the team beating China. More importantly, we showed faith in the youngsters while selecting the team and I am happy they delivered the goods.”
In the men’s team event, the Indian team put behind the reversal of HS Prannoy’s loss in the opening men’s singles match to beat Hong Kong quite easily. They will face China to decide the group winners on Thursday.
Results:
Women: India bt China 3-2 (PV Sindhu bt Han Yue 21-17, 21-15; Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto lost to Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning 19-21, 16-21; Ashmita Chaliha lost to Wang Zhi Yi 13-21, 15-21; Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand bt Li Yi Jing/Luo Xu Min 10-21, 21-18, 21-17; Anmol Kharab bt Wu Luo Yu 22-20, 14-21, 21-18)
Men: India bt Hong Kong 4-1 (HS Prannoy lost to NG Ka Long Angus 18-21, 14-21; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty bt Lui Chun Wai/Yeung Shing Choi 21-16, 21-11; Lakshya Sen bt Chan Yin Chak 21-14, 21-9; MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila bt Chow Hin Long/Hung Kuei Chun 21-12, 21-7; Kidambi Srikanth bt Jason Gunawan 21-14, 21-18)
