Begin typing your search above and press return to search.

Badminton

Indian shuttlers beat Thailand to enter semifinals of Asia Team C'ships

Indian shuttlers beat Thailand to enter semifinals of Asia Team Cships
X
By

PTI

Published: 14 Feb 2020 2:17 PM GMT

The Indian men's team assured itself of a medal after progressing to the semifinals with a thrilling 3-2 win over Thailand at the Badminton Asia Team Championships on Friday.

After star shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth faced reversals in the first two singles ties, India fought back to win the next three ties, which included a single and two doubles rubbers, to prevail over Thailand in the quarterfinals and set up a meeting with two-time defending champions Indonesia.

The men's team had last won a bronze medal in Hyderabad in the 2016 edition of the tournament. World Championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth started the proceedings, but his gallant effort ended in a 14-21 21-14 12-21 loss to world No. 12 Kantaphon Wangcharoen, as India lagged 0-1.

In the second singles, former world No. 1 Srikanth went down 20-22 14-21 to Kunlavut Vitidsarn, a three-time world junior champion, as India slipped to 0-2. The pairing of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila kept India in the hunt with a 21-18 22-20 win over Kittinupong Kedren and Tanupat Viriyangkura in the first doubles. Young Lakshya Sen, who had a stellar run in 2019, then registered a 21-19 21-18 win over world No. 45 Suppanyu Avihingsanon, as India drew level at 2-2.

It then all boiled down to the makeshift pair of Chirag Shetty and Srikanth and the Indian duo dished out a superb game to outwit Maneepong Jongjit and Nipitphon Phuangphuapet 21-15 16-21 21-15 in the second doubles in the decider.

Next Story