The Indian Women’s Badminton team has secured themselves a medal finish after clinching a thrilling 3-2 tie against Japan in the final game to progress to the final of the Badminton Asia Team Championship in Malaysia.
HISTORY SCRIPTED First-ever final for #TeamIndia at #BATC
Courtesy: 17 year old Anmol Kharb@himantabiswa | @sanjay091968 | @lakhaniarun1 #BATC2024#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/2LbQSmzqWO
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) February 17, 2024
PV Sindhu took the charge, opening the tie as she faced off against Japan’s Aya Ohori. The Indian ace put up a stellar fight but ultimately fell to Ohori who triumphed over Sindhu in two straight sets of 21-17, 22-20 to claim the first point for Japan.
Down 0-1, the onus now fell on the shoulders of the Indian pair of Treesa-Gayathri to help India claw their way back into the tie. Taking on the Japanese pair of Matsuyama-Shida, the Indians went all the way, taking the game to three gruelling sets, before finally snatching the win in a nail-biter that ended 21-17, 16-21, 22-20 to ensure that India were back on level terms at 1-1.
India were on track to carry on the momentum and that is exactly what Ashmita Chaliha did, as the Indian mustered an unexpected upset of former world champion Nozomi Okuhara, to clinch the game 21-17, 21-14 and give India the lead of 2-1.
Japan though were in no mood to go into the night quietly without a fight. The pair of Miyaura-Sakuramoto came out guns blazing against India’s Sindhu-Ponappa duo and made light work of the Indians in two sets of 21-14, 21-11 to tie up the game at 2-2 and push it to the final game.
It was all or nothing as Anmol Kharb was once again tasked with the mission of helping India secure the win, that would send them through to the finals this time. And deliver she did as Kharb kept her winning streak going, putting away Japan’s Nidaira Natsuki in two straight sets of 21-14, 21-18 to take the final game away from the Japanese and propel India to the finals.
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