Badminton Asia Team Championships: Indian Women Stun Top Seed China to Enter Quarterfinals With a Come From Behind 3-2 Win

The Indian women’s team pulled off a stellar comeback win against top seed China, as they came back from down 1-2 to clinch the group stage encounter of the Badminton Asia Team Championships and qualify for the quarterfinals as the group toppers.

There were slated to be five matches to be played between both teams. First in action was none other than ace PV Sindhu, who battled it out against China’s Han Yue.

Sindhu, who has not played a game professionally in over three months, took the fight to Han Yue, and emerged victorious in her comeback performance, clinching the game 21-17, 21-15 away from the Chinese, to give India a 1–0 lead.

But, the lead was not to be relished for long, as the opponents fired back with venom in the upcoming games.

Next up was the women’s pair event, where the Indian pair of Ashwini Ponappa-Tanisha Crasto went up against the Chinese pair of Lui-Tan, who swept the Indians in straight sets of 21-19, 21-16 to inflict a tough loss on the Indians and tie up the game 1-1.

The Chinese onslaught did not end there as next up to bat was Ashmita Chaliha, who was demolished by China’s Wang Zhi Yi in straight sets of 21-13, 21-15 as China went on the take a 2-1 lead, with one game needed to clinch the tie.

Needing two wins out of two to qualify, it was now in the hands of the Indian duo of Treesa-Gayathri to keep India’s hopes alive. And they sure did the same against Chinese pair of Li-Luo, pushing them to their limits in a three-set thriller that finally went India’s way 10-21, 21-18, 21-17.

In the end, it was sudden death. One game left. a A do-or-die situation, and the weight of the nation’s expectations were placed on youngster Anmol Kharb’s shoulders.

Khard took on Wu Luo Yu in a three-set battle that went all the way.

The first game witnessed both shuttlers leave it all out on the floor, as the game went all the way to a nail-biting 22-20 win for Kharb, who persisted through the Chinese’s blitz.

Wu Luo Yu though was in no mood to quit easily and she snatched the next set away from Kharb 21-14 in fairly easy fashion.

With one set to go and eveything on the line for both teams, it was eventually the 17-year-old teenage sensation Kharb who triumphed in a hard fought 21-18 win, to put away Luo Yu once and for all, and bring home the victory for team India, who edged out China 3-2.

Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024: India squads

Men’s: HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Chirag Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Dhruv Kapila, M R Arjun, Suraj Goala, Pruthvi Roy

Women’s: PV Sindhu, Anmol Kharb, Tanvi Sharma, Ashmita Chaliha, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand, Ashwini Ponnappa, Tanisha Crasto, Priya Devi Konjengbam, Shruti Mishra