BATC: India loses against China 2-3

The Indian shuttlers had a strong showing against China on Thursday in the Badminton Asia Team Championship Group A match in Selangor, Malaysia, but ultimately lost 2-3.

India chose to rest the gold medalist doubles team from the Asian Games, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, as well as former world number one Kidambi Srikanth, in order to keep them healthy for the knockout round. India’s victory against Hong Kong on Wednesday guaranteed them a quarterfinal position.

In the first round, World No. 7 HS Prannoy too need some time to settle in, but in an hour and thirteen minutes, he pulled off an incredible comeback to win 6-21, 21-18, 21-19.

Subsequently, India’s advantage was almost doubled by MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila in doubles over Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi, a Chinese combination rated 17 spots higher.
The Indians, behind 13-19 in the final, scored six points in a row to tie the game, but they were unable to maintain the momentum and fell 21-15, 19-21, and 21-19 in an hour and ten minutes.

Lakshya Sen then defeated Lei Lan Xi 21-11, 21-16 to put India ahead once again.

The national singles champion Chirag Sen or the rookie doubles team of Suraj Goala and Pruthvi K Roy had to win to keep India alive. Though they tried, they were unable to defeat their opponents.

Men’s match: China defeated India 3-2; Weng Hong Yang was defeated by HS Prannoy. Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi bt MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila; 21-6, 18-21, 19-21 21–15, 19–21, 21–19; Lakshya Sen defeated Lei Lan Xi Ren Xiang Yu/Xie Hao Nan vs. Suraj Goala/Pruthvi K Roy, 11–21, 16–21 Wang Zheng Xing bt Chirag Sen 21-15, 21-16; 21-13, 21-9