Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024: Indian women's team enters semifinal, assured of medal, men's team narrowly misses out
It was a mixed day for the Indian contingent at the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024 on Friday, February 16. The women’s team, led by two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu dominated their opponents, Hong Kong China. As a result, they assured themselves of a medal and a place in the last four.
On the other hand, the men’s team narrowly missed out on a place in the semifinals. Kidambi Srikanth went down 21-17, 9-21, 20-22 to Kento Momota in the fifth and deciding match of the tie.
A closer look at the quarterfinal ties of India’s men’s and women’s teams at the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024
The Indian women's team caused a big upset by stunning top seed China in their group-stage clash on February 14. They then took on Hong Kong China in their quarterfinal match at the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024.
PV Sindhu, who is returning to action after more than three months, continued her incredible form. She beat Hong Kong’s Lo Sin Yan Happy 21-7, 16-21, 21-12 in a three-set battle, giving India the lead.
In the second match, India’s top women’s doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto faced off against higher-ranked Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam. But the Indian duo, who are currently ranked 21 in the world, completely dominated proceedings. They secured a 21-10, 21-14 straight victory and increased India’s advantage in the tie.
India’s Ashmita Chaliha played the third match. The 24-year-old from Assam took on Yeung Sum Yee in what ended up being the last match of the tie. The Indian shuttler took 37 minutes to wrap up the match and seal the tie 3-0 for India, ensuring a medal for the country.
Meanwhile, India’s men’s team, who have been in phenomenal form in recent years, went down in a thrilling five-match tie to Japan. India’s leading men’s singles shuttler, HS Prannoy, took on Kenta Nishimoto in the first match of the tie. The World No. 7 shuttler went down 16-21, 24-26 in a close-fought battle that lasted just over an hour.
The second match of the tie saw the World No. 1 duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty level things for India. They comfortably beat Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura 21-15, 21-17.
With things level at 1-1, Lakshya Sen, who seems to have found his form once again, dispatched Kobi Watanabe in a nail-biting 55-minute match. The final score of the match was 21-19, 22-20.
The second doubles of the tie saw M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila take on Japan’s Akira Koga and Kazuki Shibata. All four shuttlers displayed a solid defense and phenomenal attacking play, treating fans to some spectacular rallies. However, the pair from India just fell short and went down 17-21, 15-21.
The final match of the tie witnessed former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth face off against Kento Momota. The Indian shuttler started the match strongly, taking the first set 21-17. However, Momota fought back and dominated the second game to wrap it up with a score of 9-21.
Srikanth found his rhythm once again in the third set and accelerated to 19-15. But the world champion from Japan kept his composure to take five straight points and reach match point. Momota eventually sealed the match 22-20, winning the match 17-21, 21-9, 22-20.
It ended the Indian men’s team's hope of another medal in an international team championship tournament.
The Indian women’s team will now take on Japan in the semifinals on February 17.