Badminton News: In a promising men’s badminton team semi-final match at the 2022 Asian Games, China and India defeated Japan and South Korea respectively, paving the way for a much-anticipated showdown on Sunday.

China’s strong performance marked its second consecutive appearance in the final and is a bid for its seventh gold medal in history in this category.

Meanwhile, India’s journey has been monumental; they reached the Asian Games men’s team final for the first time, following in the footsteps of their historic Thomas Cup victory last year.

The Chinese team, defending its title, bounced back against Japan, finishing 3-1 on Saturday. China’s top singles player, Shi Yuqi, first suffered a setback against Kenta Nishimoto, losing 21-10, 16-21, 14-21.

However, things are starting to turn in China’s favor. Men’s doubles world No. 2 Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang scored a dominating victory against Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi, securing a 23-21, 25-23 victory in straight sets.

Li Shifeng then sent the attack to China, beating Kanta Tsuneyama 21-16, 21-10.

In the semifinals, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi’s hard work paid off as they defeated Akira Koga/Taichi Saito 15-21, 21-14, 21-17, sealing the deal for China.

In the match between India and Korea, Indian strategy relied heavily on the strength of the men’s singles, helping them to a narrow 3-2 victory against a tough South Korean team, also known as “Tai Chi Tigers”.

The opening match saw world number 7 HS Prannoy make a comeback against Jeon Hyeok Jin, winning 18-21, 21-16, 21-19.

But Korea didn’t give up, their men’s doubles world champions Seo Seung Jae/Kang Min Hyuk beat Indian world number 3s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty 21-13, 26-24 to level the overall score at 1-1.

However, India’s momentum in singles continued as world number 14 Lakshya Sen scored a thumping 21-7, 21-9 victory over world number 119 Lee Yun Gyu, who had earlier defeated number 19 Ng Tze Yong in the first round. round and world number 5 Jonatan Christie in the second round.

However, the Korean team bounced back in the second men’s doubles match, with Kim Won-Ho/Na Sung-Seung defeating MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila 21-16, 21-11.

In the deciding third men’s singles match that will determine the finalists, Indian ace Kidambi Srikanth showed his class and experience. Trailing early, he turned things around to beat South Korea’s Cho Geonyeop 12-21, 21-16, 21-14, securing India’s place in the 2023 Asian Games final.

Article Tag: India, China, Asian Games 2023