Badminton
Indian junior badminton team defeat Slovenia 5-0 in final group tie
India finished behind China in their group. They will next play playoff matches against second-placed teams from other groups for the best possible finish in the 9-16 bracket.
The Indian team blanked Slovenia 5-0 in its fourth and final Group B tie at the World Junior Mixed Team Badminton Championships in Santander, Spain on Wednesday.
The mixed doubles pair of Vignesh Thathineni and Srinidhi Naryanan started the proceedings by beating Ziga Podgoresk and Spela Alic 21-11 21-9.
Ayush Shetty notched up a 21-5 21-5 win over Kevin Lin Lenarcic in the men's singles before Nicholas Raj and Tushar Suveer sealed the tie in India's favour with a 21-15 21-14 victory over Anel Hac Gyorkos and Mark Korosa in the men's doubles.
Rakshita Ramraj got the better of Anja Jordan 21-4 21-4 in the women's singles. The women's doubles pair Shreya Balaji and Srindhi Naryanan completed the demolition with a 21-9 21-6 win over Nika Bedic and Kim Matovic.
India finished second in the Group B with three points, having beaten Iceland, Australia and Slovenia.
Their only loss came against group toppers China, the most successful team in the tournament with 13 titles, in their second group tie on the opening day of the tournament.
The Indian team will next play playoff matches against second-placed teams from other groups for the best possible finish in the 9-16 bracket.
The Indian team finished in 12th place in 2019. India's best result at the meet was a fourth-place finish in the 2008 edition.
