Ayush Shetty (Photo by Tony2803.tw)
Singapore took the fight to India at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Qingdao, before being edged out 2-3.
Former world champion Loh Kean Yew gave Singapore a flying start when he battled for more than hour to subdue Lakshya Sen 21-16, 19-21, 21-16 in the first singles of the Group C clash.
It was Kean Yew’s first win over Lakshya in four meetings and the first since the Badminton Asia Individual Championships in 2023.
But India’s top doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty packed too much firepower as they thumped Wesley Koh-Kubo Junsuke 21-10, 21-8 in just 31 minutes.
Twenty-year-old Ayush Shetty, the 2023 world junior bronze medallist. Put India ahead when he carved out a 21-17, 21-15 win.
India seemed to be headed for a comfortable win in the second men’s doubles when Pruthvi Krishnamoorthy –Sai Prateek stormed to a 21-9 first game win against Nge Joo Jie-Donovan Willard Wee.
But, the Singaporean duo fought tooth and nail to reverse the fortunes to take the match 9-21, 23-21, 22-20.
The stage was all set for the deciding third singles and India had the experienced Srikanth Kidambi on their side. And the veteran did not disappoint by taking the match and sealing the tie for India with a 21-15, 21-16 win over Joel Koh Jia Wei.
In Group B, Korea’s strength in the doubles saw them take an unassailable 3-1 lead before disposing of Hong Kong 3-2. Hong Kong clinched both the first and third singles matches in the tie through Lee Cheuk Yiu and Jason Gunawan respectively.
In Group A, Thailand eased to a 5-0 win over Macau China while a young Malaysian side also romped home 5-0 against minnows Myanmar.
Malaysis, were however, beaten 1-4 in the women’s competition by defending champions China. Malaysia’s solitary point in the tie came from the second doubles when Low Zi Yu-Maisarah Noraqilah came back from a game down to beat Luo Yi-Wang Ting Ge 13-21, 21-18, 21-17.
Despite, the defeat, both teams are already through to the quarter-finals with the group only consisting two teams.
India and Chinese Taipei picked up 5-0 wins over Myanmar and Singapore intheir group ties respectively.
Indonesia defeated Hong China but dropped the first singles with Happy Lo Sin Yan earning a 23-21, 21-19 win over Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan.
RESULTS
MEN
GROUP A: Thailand bt Macau China 5-0
GROUP B: Korea bt Hong Kong China
GROUP C: India bt Singapore 3-2
GROUP D: Malaysia bt Myanmar 5-0
WOMEN
GROUP W: China bt Malaysia 4-1
GROUP X: Indonesia bt Hong Kong China 4-1
GROUP Y: India bt Myanmar 5-0
GROUP Z: Chinese Taipei bt Singapore 5-0
