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India’s men’s and women’s badminton teams reach Badminton Asia Team Championships quarterfinals, all set to face South Korea and China next.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in action (Picture credit: Badminton Asia)
India’s men’s and women’s teams advanced to the quarterfinals despite narrow 2-3 losses to Japan and Thailand, respectively, in their final group ties at the Badminton Asia Team Championships on Thursday.
The defending champion women will face hosts China, while the men will take on South Korea in the last-eight stage.
The Indian women, who had started with a 5-0 sweep of Myanmar, began strongly but lost momentum after taking a 2-0 lead against Thailand.
World No. 42 Tanvi, a member of India’s historic gold medal-winning team in the 2024 edition, stunned world No. 16 Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-14, 17-21, 21-18 in a gripping contest lasting one hour and three minutes.
The doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly then battled past world No. 65 Tidapron Kleebyeesun and Nattamon Laisuan 21-14, 20-22, 21-11 to give India a 2-0 lead at the Qingdao Conson Gymnasium.
However, Rakshitha Ramraj failed to get past 19-year-old Pitchamon Opatniputh, the 2023 World Junior champion and 2026 Indonesia Masters runner-up, losing 19-21, 17-21 as Thailand pulled one back to trail 1-2.
In the second doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Shruti Mishra fought gallantly but went down 21-19, 14-21, 15-21 to Hathaithip Mijad and Napapakorn Tungkasatan, ranked 57th in the world, permitting Thailand to level the tie and force a deciding fifth match.
Entrusted with the responsibility of securing the win for India, Malvika Bansod faced world No. 69 Pornpicha Choeikeewong in the final singles but could not deliver, losing 18-21, 14-21 in a 40-minute clash.
Men surrender 2-0 lead against Japan
Having already qualified, India rested Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth against Japan.
After taking a strong 2-0 lead, the next three matches slipped away, although qualification was already secured.
Former world junior bronze medallist Ayush Shetty put on a good show, winning 21-18, 15-21, 21-11 over world No. 13 Kento Nishimoto, while two-time World Championships medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat world No. 9 Yugo Kobayashi and Takuro Hoki 21-18, 15-21, 21-12.
However, India lost the next three matches.
HS Prannoy went down 16-21, 11-21 to world No. 19 Yushi Tanaka, the pairing of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy lost to Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi, world No. 31 and Tharun Mannepalli was beaten 21-12, 14-21, 11-21 by world No. 23 Koki Watanabe.
Former India coach Vimal Kumar felt it was a missed opportunity, stating the presence of the two players could have helped India win the tie.
“It was disappointing not to see Lakshya and Srikanth in the playing line-up because their presence would have helped us win against Japan. Last time we lost to Japan closely. I don’t know how the team management decided not to field players in form,” Vimal told PTI.
India will get another chance to prove their worth when the men take on Korea and the women face China.
Powerhouse China has opted to use a largely backup squad but will still feature world No. 10 women’s singles player Gao Fang Jie and world No. 4 women’s doubles pair Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xia, as they look to regain the title they won 10 years ago.
Korea boast some strong doubles pairs, including world No. 1 Seo Seung Jae and Kim Won Ho.
(With PTI Inputs)
February 05, 2026, 21:58 IST
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