Qingdao [China], February 13 (ANI): Men’s singles player Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and women’s doubles pairing of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly fought back from two matches down to keep the team in the hunt, but that did not prove enough as India went down 2-3 against South Korea in their second Group D clash in the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships 2025 at Qingdao, China on Thursday, as stated in a release from Badminton Association of India (BAI).
Having already qualified for the knockout stage, India and South Korea faced off to determine the group winner. It wasn’t an ideal start for India as the mixed doubles combination of Dhruv Kapil and Tanisha Crasto and women’s singles player Malvika Bansod lost their respective matches.
National Games double gold medallist Sathish brought India back into the contest, keeping his nerves under pressure to beat Cho Geonyeop 17-21, 21-18, 21-19.
World no 9 combination of Gayatri and Treesa then raised hope of an Indian win by getting the better of Kim Min Ji and Kim Yu Jung 19-21, 21-16, 21-11 to make the tie score 2-2.
Indian once again tweaked their men’s doubles combination, this time fielding Satwiksairaj Rankireddy with MR Arjun against Jin Yong and Na Sung Seung. Satwik and Arjun struggled to find the rhythm in the opening game but gave their opponents a tough fight in the second, eventually going down 25-23.
Earlier on Wednesday, Last edition’s bronze medallists, India, kicked off their Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships 2025 campaign with a thumping 5-0 victory over Macau in Group D at the Qingdao Sports Centre Conson Gymnasium in China.
The dominant victory also confirmed India’s passage to the knockout stage. To determine the group winner, India will face two-time runners-up South Korea in the second Group D clash on Thursday, according to a press release from BAI. (ANI)
