Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships | India claim historic bronze, lose to China 2-3 in semis
Team India settled for a historic bronze medal at the Asia Mixed Team Championships 2023 after losing to China 2-3 in the semi-finals at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in UAE on Saturday. This was India's first medal at the championship, where in the past the team failed to go past the quarters.
In the five-match tie, world no.9 HS Prannoy was shocked by world No. 125 Lei Lan Xi. The Indian lost the match 21-13, 21-16. Prannoy looked off-color and was no match to the Chinese player, who looked in total command right from the start of the match. While the Indians were expected to make short work of their neighbors in the singles, PV Sindhu too disappointed in her match against world No. 101 Gao Fang Jie 21-9, 16-21, 21-18 in women’s singles.
This was her third loss to the Chinese player in as many matches, putting India 0-2 behind in the tie. Post that, Chirag Shetty and Dhruv Kapila brought India back into the tie with a close 21-19, 21-19 win over the world No. 21 team of He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong. Then the women's doubles team of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly defeated Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning 21-18, 13-21, 21-19 to bring India level to 2-2.
Finally, in the decider, the mixed doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto went down against Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Yax In 21-17, 21-13. Despite the semis exit, India has gotten a direct entry into this year's Sudirman Cup to be held in China later this year.
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