Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024: Indian men's team narrowly goes down to China in their group stage match, qualifies for the quarterfinals
After a convincing win against Hong Kong China at the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024, India's men's badminton team went down 2-3 to top seed China in a thrilling tie in their second group stage encounter.
India, already assured of a spot in the knockout stages after defeating Hong Kong in a previous group stage match, made a strategic decision to rest some of their key players for the tie against China.
Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth and current World No. 1 doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were rested for the tie. This presented an opportunity for players like Chirag Sen and the doubles pair of Suraj Goala and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy to step up and play at the prestigious competition. China too made a few changes to their squad after being assured a place in the last eight.
A closer look at India’s men’s team's tie against China at the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024
The first match of the tie saw HS Prannoy lead the charge for India once again and face off against China's Weng Hong Yang. In the first set, the 31-year-old Indian was completely outplayed in every aspect of the game and went down 6-21.
The highly experienced Asian Games bronze medalist staged a remarkable comeback after dropping the first game and went on to win the next two, eventually clinching victory with a scoreline of 6-21, 21-18, 21-19 in a battle that lasted an hour and thirteen minutes.
In the second match of the tie, India’s M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, who played some brilliant badminton against Hong Kong’s Chow Him Long and Hung Kuei Chun on February 14, continued their momentum in their clash against Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi of China.
Despite losing the first set, Arjun and Kapila fought back to take the next game 21-19 and take things to the decider. The thrilling three-set encounter saw the Indian pair narrowly succumb to their opponents. Yang and Yi emerged victorious after a grueling hour and ten minutes of intense badminton, with the final scoreline reading 15-21, 21-19, 19-21.
With the scores of the tie level at 1-1, Lakshya Sen took to the court and dispatched China’s Lei Lan Xi with a straight-set victory of 21-11, 21-16. However, the Chinese team secured the second doubles encounter against India’s Suraj Goala and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy. The inexperienced pair from India were comfortably beaten by Ren Xiang Yu and Xie Hao Nan with a scoreline of 13-21, 9-21.
In the final match of the tie, fans witnessed India’s Chirag Sen face off against Wang Zheng Xing. Despite giving a fight, the Indian was beaten in straight games in the deciding match. Xing won the match 15-21, 16-21, handing China a 3-2 win in the tie.
Despite the loss, India’s men’s team finished second in their group and secured a spot in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, India’s women’s team has also made their way to the last eight after they topped their group, causing an upset against China in their match on Wednesday, February 14.