Qingdao: India’s title defence in the women’s team event at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Qingdao, People’s Republic of China, came to a disappointing end on Friday as the defending champions suffered a 0–3 defeat to China in the quarterfinals.
India had clinched a historic gold medal in the previous edition in 2024, but the absence of talismanic shuttler PV Sindhu, who missed the tie due to a niggle, proved to be a major setback against a formidable Chinese side.
World No. 42 Tanvi Sharma, who had impressed with two wins earlier in the tournament, was unable to provide a strong start in the opening singles, going down 9–21, 9–21 to World No. 10 Gao Fang Jie.
The doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly showed resilience and fought hard in the second match, but eventually lost 22–24, 18–21 to the World No. 4 Chinese combination of Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian, allowing China to take an unassailable 2–0 lead.
Facing a must-win situation, Rakshitha Ramraj put up a spirited performance in the second singles against Xu Wen Jing. Despite pushing the match to three games, Rakshitha fell short in a gruelling 69-minute contest, losing 14–21, 21–15, 17–21 to seal India’s exit from the tournament.
India had opened their campaign with a dominant 5–0 victory over Myanmar before suffering a narrow 2–3 loss to Thailand in their final group-stage tie on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s team is set to take on South Korea in their quarterfinal clash later in the day.
Source: ESPN
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