The Indian Men’s Team went down 2-3 to their Chinese counterparts on Thursday in their Group A clash at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam, Malaysia.
HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen posted victories in singles rubbers before the Chinese unit hit back with a win in two doubles events before Wang Zheng Xing closed out the fixture with a win over Chirag Sen.
Despite the loss, India progressed to the quarterfinal of the event having finished second behind China in Group A.
Skipper HS Prannoy was up again first, taking on China’s Weng Hong Yang in the first game of the tie. The Indian seemed set for a repeat of yesterday as the Chinese shuttler demolished Prannoy in a dominant showcase in the first set, flushing the Indian away 21-6.
But, the World No.7 Prannoy turned up the heat as he bounced back with a hard-fought 21-18 win in the second set to tie up the game and push it to one final set.
Weng was in no mood to let the shift of momentum get the better of him, as both shuttlers went back and forth, point for point, in the last set which sat at 18-18. This was when Prannoy showcased his girt and broke through to clinch the set 21-19 and gift India a 1-0 lead in the tie.
The duo of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila took to the court up next, as they faced off against the Chinese pair of Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi. Yang and Yi took the first set away from the Indians 21-15, before a spirited comeback from the Indians clinched the second set 21-19.
With everything to play for yet again, the Chinese took a comfortable 19-13 lead over Arjun-Dhruv. And despite a fiery comeback, which saw the Indians tie the game at 19 points themselves, Yang and Yi ultimately triumphed over the next two serves to seal the set 21-19 and to retrieve a point for China, to tie the score 1-1.
Lakshya Sen though took the mantle next and ensured that India regain the upper hand as he breezed past Lei Lan Xi in two straight sets of 21-11, 21-16, and continued to build on his fiery form and pipped India over China 2-1.
But, it is not over until it is over. The loss did not hinder China but rather fired them up more, as in the fourth game the pair of Ren Xiang Yu and Xie Hao Nan wreaked havoc upon the Indian pair of Suraj Goala and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy, trampling over the Indians in two blazing sets of 21-13, 21-9 to tie the game up 2-2.
Once again for India, it was all down to the last game.
China’s Wang Zheng Xing ensured that his side would pick up the win against the Indian unit with a 21-15, 21-16 straight sets win over Chirag Sen in the decider to claim the triumph.
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