India women shuttlers assured themselves of a historic first-ever Badminton Asia Team Championships medal by cruising to a 3-0 win over Hong Kong but their male counterparts failed to replicate the feat, going down 2-3 to Japan in the quarter finals, here on Friday.
After stunning top seeds China to top the group, India women blanked Hong Kong riding on wins from double Olympic-medallist PV Sindhu, Ashmita Chaliha and the doubles pair of Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto.
In the semi-finals, the women will now face top seed Japan, who beat China 3-2 in another quarter final.
The Indian men produced a gallant effort but a nervous Kidambi Srikanth imploded in the end, blowing away a 19-12 lead in the third game of the deciding fifth match as they fell short against a second-string Japan in a tightly-contested quarter final.
India had won two bronze medals in the men’s team event in the 2016 and 2020 editions. Returning from a long injury layoff, Sindhu registered a hard-fought 21-7, 16-21, 21-12 win over a lower-ranked Lo Sin Yan Happy.
The women’s doubles combination of Tanisha and Ponnappa then doubled the lead by getting the better of world No. 18 combination of Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam 21-10, 21-14 in 35 minutes.
Ashmita wrapped up the tie with a comfortable 21-12, 21-13 triumph over Yeung Sum Yee, assuring the team of at least a bronze. “It is a comfortable result for the women’s team. I am very happy with their performance,” former national coach Vimal Kumar, who is with the team, said from Shah Alam.
In the men’s event, HS Prannoy recovered from 9-19 down in the second game after losing the opener. After a 64-minute battle, however, it was world No. 12 Kento Nishimoto, who walked away with a 21-16, 26-24 win.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then outwitted world No. 30 Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura 21-15, 21-17. Lakshya Sen outlasted Koko Watanabe 21-19, 22-20 to give India a 2-1 lead.
MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila went down 17-21, 15-21 to Akira Koga and Kazuki Shibata.
With the tie poised at 2-2, Srikanth was entrusted with the job of taming his nemesis Kento Momota. He, however, went down 17-21, 9-21, 22-22.
