KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia ended their Group B campaign as the runner-up after losing to India 1-4 in the 2023 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday.
Indian men’s singles ace H.S. Prannoy, the World number nine, gave India a flying start as he clawed back from a game down to see off national men’s singles professional Lee Zii Jia 18-21, 21-13, 25-23 in the opening tie.
Buoyed by a convincing start from Prannoy, 2019 women’s singles world champion Pusarla V. Sindhu had no problem extending the lead by contributing the second point for India after a straight sets win over young national shuttler Wong Ling Ching – 21-13, 21-17.
Reigning men’s doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik then managed to reduce the deficit for Malaysia by downing scratch duo Dhruv Kapila-Chirah Shetty 21-16, 21-10.
However, in the fourth match, Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, ranked 19th in the world, turned unlikely heroes for India as they stunned Malaysia’s top and world number five women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah with a 23-21, 21-15 win to ensure they head into the next stage as group champions.
India’s world number 26th ranked mixed doubles pair Ishaan Bhatnagar-Tanisha Crasto completed the rout for India despite having to brush aside a strong challenge from the country’s rising duo and world number 48, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, 21-19, 19-21, 21-16, in the last match.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan took the third spot in Group B after beating UAE 3-2 in the other match.
Only the top two teams from the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals, while the four best teams will win automatic spots in the Sudirman Cup. – Bernama, February 17, 2023
