Team India comfortably beat Slovenia 5-0 in their fourth and final Group B match at the 2022 World Junior Mixed Team Badminton Championships on Wednesday.
India finished second in Group B with three points, after beating Iceland, Australia and Slovenia. They lost only to group leaders China, the tournament’s most successful team with 13 titles, in their second opening day draw.
Team India will now play a playoff match against the second-placed team from another group to get the best result in the 9-16 bracket.
Mixed doubles pair Vignesh Thathineni/Srinidhi Narianan started the day by beating Ziga Podgorok/Spela Alic 21-11, 21-9.
Ayush Shetty then recorded a 21-5, 21-5 win over Kevin Lin Lenarcic in the men’s singles before Nicholas Raj and Tushar Suveer equalized with 21-15, 21-14 wins over Anel Hac Gyorkos and Mark Korosa in the men’s. double.
As 14-year-old Unnati Hooda took a break from the encounter, Rakshita Ramraj beat Anja Jordan 21-4, 21-4 in the women’s singles. Women’s doubles pair Shreya Balaji/Srindhi Narianan completed the win with a 21-9, 21-6 victory over Nika Bedic and Kim Matovic.
India will face the second seeded team from Group A, either Indonesia or last edition champions Malaysia, in their next match.
Team India finished in 12th place in 2019 and are hoping to improve on that record this time around. India’s best achievement in this competition is finishing fourth in the 2008 edition.
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