The Indian men’s badminton team scripted history by securing a
medal at the Asian Games after 37 years as they destroyed Nepal 3-0 in the
quarterfinals in Hangzhou.
On the back of a stunning performance from their shuttlers, the
Indian team without breaking a sweat cruised into the semifinals of the 19th
Asian Games. Lakshya Sen began it off, Kidambi Shrikanth followed and Mithun
Manjunath completed it off, all in straight games without any trouble.
In the first match of the tie, Lakshya Sen defeated Prince Dahal
21-5, 21-8 to give Bharat 1-0 lead. Later in the second match of the tie,
former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth in a straight set defeated Sunil Joshi
21-4, 21-13.
The Nepal shuttler was not any match to the Indian in terms of
skillset. Joshi was only able to score all four points in the first game and
handed an easy win to Kidambi.
The second set of the match saw a little bit of a fightback from
Joshi but it was not enough to stop Kidambi raced away to a comfortable win in
the match.
In the third game of the tie, Mithun Manjunath overpowered Bishnu
Katuwal 21-2, 21-7 to seal a place in the semifinals for his team.
Dominant Manjunath left no stone unturned in assuring India a place
in the semis. They will face the winner between Indonesia and Korea in the
semifinal for a spot in the final.
Meanwhile, Indian women’s badminton team was knocked out in the
quarterfinals of the team competition in Hangzhou.
Bharat registered a disappointing 3-0 loss to Thailand in their QF
match.
ANI
