India enters the semi-finals of Asian Mixed Team Badminton Championships with an assured first medal. India outplayed with an impressive comeback, by beating Hong Kong 3-2 to advance to the semi-finals of the Asian Mixed Team Badminton Championships and claim their first medal at a continental tournament here on Friday.
The Indians lost 2-0 and showed great fighting spirit. the pair of Dhruv Kapila and Chirag Shetty and PV Sindhu leveled the score after falling in the first two games. In the first game of this event, the mixed duo of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto fought hard. They lost the match to Lee Chun Hei Reginald and Tsz Yau NG 24-26, 17-21 to give Hong Kong a 1-0 lead. (Read Also: Asian Mixed Team Championship: India beat UAE by 5-0 to move ahead to quarterfinals)
World No. 11 and Commonwealth Games Champion Lakshya Sen lost the match lead, losing 22-20, 19-21, 18-21 to World No. 1.14 Ka Long Angus NG in one hour and 10 minutes. Men’s doubles duo Kapil and Shetty made a save in India after a bitter 20-22 21-16 21-11 battle against Tang Chun Man and Yeung Shing Choi.
In the women’s tournament, two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu had to dig deep to beat Saloni Samirbhai Mehta 16-21, 21-7, 21-9 to level the score at 2-2. In the deciding match, Treesa Jolly & Gayatri Gopichand defeated Tsz Yau NG & Wing Yung NG 21-13 21-12 in women’s doubles with a draw.
