Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu returned to competitive action with a comfortable win over Yue Han in the first singles match of the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2024, India vs China tie in Shah Alam, Malaysia on Wednesday. (Badminton News)
Sindhu, 28, took little time to dispatch her Chinese opponent, winning the rubber 21-17, 21-15. The Indian star was sidelined for more than three months due to a knee injury.
India claimed the tie 3-2 with 16-year-old Anmol Kharb producing a stunning three-game win over Luo Yu Wu in the deciding singles rubber. Earlier, India suffered back-to-back defeats to trail 2-1 but Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand fought back to beat Li Yi and Lou Xu (10-21, 21-18, 21-17) in the second doubles rubber.
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa lost to Liu Sheng and Tan Ning (19-21, 16-21) in the first doubles rubber while Ashmita Chaliha surrendered to Wang Zhi Yi (13-21, 15-21) in the second singles.
In the decider, national champion Kharb took the first game 22-20 only to concede the second 14-21. But the Haryanvi teenager showed nerves of steel to seal the third game 21-18, and her team a 3-2 win against their traditional rivals.
For the record, each tie in the group stages will consist of five rubbers -- three singles and two doubles. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals. Interestingly India and China are the only teams in Group W and both will progress to the knockouts.
In the men's section, India are in Group A along with China and Hong Kong China. HS Prannoy & Co were up against Hong Kong in their opener. On Thursday, they will face China.
Badminton Asia Team Championships serve as the continental qualifiers for the 2024 Thomas and Uber Cup, to be held in Chengdu, China in April-May.
India women will play their first Badminton Asia Team Championships quarter-finals in six years on Friday.
India squads
Men: HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Chirag Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Dhruv Kapila, M R Arjun, Suraj Goala, Pruthvi Roy.
Women: PV Sindhu, Anmol Kharb, Tanvi Sharma, Ashmita Chaliha, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand, Ashwini Ponnappa, Tanisha Crasto, Priya Konjengbam, Shruti Mishra.
