No title defense! India suffer double quarterfinal at Badminton Asia Team Championships | Badminton News – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: India’s campaign at the Badminton Asia Team Championships ended in disappointment on Friday as both the women’s and men’s teams were eliminated in the quarter-finals.The defending champion women’s team crashed out after a 0-3 defeat to second-tier China, with the absence of star shuttler PV Sindhu proving costly.

India did not get off to a strong start as world number 42 Tanvi Sharma, who had impressed earlier in the tournament, lost to world number 10 Gao Fang Jie in successive matches and struggled to match her opponent’s pace and power. In doubles, Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly fought hard against the world number 1. 4 Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian, but went down in two close games after losing advantages in both. Facing elimination, Rakshitha Ramraj fought for 69 minutes in the second singles before losing in three matches, sealing India’s exit and ending their title defense.Earlier in the day, the men’s side also bowed out after a 1-3 defeat to Korea, hampered by the absence of key players Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy. Lakshya was rested due to back pain while Satwik was unavailable due to personal reasons. Ayush Shetty suffered a heartbreaking loss in the first singles match and missed several match points in an 84-minute match against Yoo Tae Bin. The makeshift doubles match of Chirag Shetty and Hariharan Amsakarunan then lost in two matches. Kidambi Srikanth briefly revived India’s hopes with a straight second singles win, but the second doubles defeat for Pruthvi Krishnan and K Sai Pratheek sealed Korea’s victory.