For the first time, India defeated China 3-2 in the men’s category of the Badminton Asia Team Championships at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.
In the first singles match, World No.9 and Top Indian player Srikanth Kidambi outclassed China’s Houwei Tian 21-11, 21-17.
World No. 25 Jayaram outsmarted No.11 China’s Zhengming Wang 22-20, 15-21, 21-18 in the second singles. This match was a neck-to-neck clash right till the end. The Indian held his nerve to come out victorious against an opponent who was ranked far above him.
World No.27 Prannoy stunned low-ranked rival Yuqi Shi 21-14, 21-10 in the third match, giving India the joyful victory.
However, India lost the two doubles matches. India’s Manu Attri-Sumeeth Reddy lost 20-22, 11-21 to China’s Junhui Li-Zihan Qiu.
The Indian pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra-Akshay Dewalkar was outsmarted by Yilv Wang-Wen Zhang 10-21, 18-21 in the second doubles match.
India’s men’s and Women’s teams have made it to the quarter-finals of the tournament.