Qingdao, February 4: The Indian men’s badminton team has secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Team Championship (BATC) after a tough match against Singapore. Meanwhile, the women’s team also advanced by defeating Myanmar 5-0 in their opening group stage match.
The men’s Group C clash between India and Singapore, held at the Qingdao Conson Gymnasium on Wednesday, was thrilling. Former world number one Kidambi Srikanth delivered an impressive performance, winning the third men’s singles match against Joel Koh with scores of 21-15, 21-16, ensuring India’s place in the last eight.
India’s campaign did not start as expected. Lakshya Sen lost to former world champion Lee Kien Yew with scores of 21-16, 19-21, 21-16. However, the duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty leveled the score by winning their match 21-10, 21-8. Following this, Ayush Shetty gave India the lead by defeating Jia Heng Jason Teh 21-17, 21-15.
The second doubles pair of Prithvi Roy and K Sai Prateek nearly secured victory for India. They won the first game against Ng Joo Ji and Donovan Wiland V easily but ultimately lost 21-8, 21-23, 20-22. This meant Srikanth had to find a way to defeat Koh, which he accomplished brilliantly.
On the other hand, the defending champions, the Indian women’s team, started their campaign strongly by defeating Myanmar 5-0 in Group Y. The champions will face last year’s runners-up, Thailand, in their next match on Thursday.
This tournament also serves as Asia’s qualifying event for the Thomas and Uber Cup finals, scheduled to take place in Horsens, Denmark, in April-May.