India has clinched its first-ever bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship 2023. The country bagged the medal after losing to China 2-3 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in UAE on February 18.
In the previous editions of the championship, India failed to get past the group stages (2019) and was eliminated by Thailand in the quarter-finals of the inaugural edition (2017).
In the semi-final on Saturday, India lost their men’s singles, women’s singles and mixed doubles matches. India won all their matches in the group stage. They then beat last edition’s bronze medallist Hong Kong in the quarter-finals to earn a direct entry in the Sudirman Cup 2023, to be held in China later this year.
World number 9 HS Prannoy was stunned by World number 116 Lei Lan Xi as he defeated the Indian shuttler in straight games. With Prannoy losing the game, hopes were pinned on PV Sindhu against Gao Fang Jie. Gao won the match giving China a lead of 2-0. The pair of Chirag Shetty and Dhruv Kapila won the match against the Chinese pair in straight sets 21-19, 21-19. With India still trailing 1-2, the 19-year-old duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand registered an incredible win against another young pair of Liu Sheng Su and Tan Ning 21-16, 13-21, 21-19, equalising the China-India score at 2-2. Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto faced Jiang Zhen and Wei Ya in the deciding fixture. The Indian pair lost the match 21-17, 21-13.
