Badminton Asia Championship 2022 Day 2: Mixed day for Indian shuttlers
The Indian shuttlers had a mixed day in the offering with 3 of them qualified for the next round of the prestigious Asia Badminton Championship 2022 played in Manila, the Philippines on Wednesday.
PV Sindhu had to dig deep before defeating Pai Po of Chinese
Taipei in three games. The first game was a closely fought affair as the Indian
held his nerves to win the first game 21-18. It was a very fought 2nd
game with both players fighting for each point with Sindhu taking an 11-9 lead at
the interval. After the break, both players fought but this time, Pai Yu Po
held her nerves to win it 27-25.
It was a close-fought start for both players. The Indian
dominated her opponent in the third game after the initial struggle and took an 11-4 lead at the interval. She continued to dominate winning it easily by 21-9
to move into the second round. She will face
Saina Nehwal made a strong comeback after an injury winning
her game against Sim Yu Jin of South Korea in three games. It was an impressive
start by the Indian taking a decent lead from the start and grabbing an 11-9 lead
at the interval. After the break, Saina stepped her game up and won the first game
easily at 21-15.
The South Korean started the 2nd game on an
aggressive note as Saina committed a few unforced errors. Sim took an 11-7 lead at
the interval. After the break, Saina showed great fight and spirit to reduce
the gap, but Sim won the second game 21-17.
The third game began on a decent note for Saina Nehwal before
the South Korean showed great fight and spirit. At the mid-game interval, the
Indian took a commanding lead. It was one-way traffic as Saina won the decider
by 21-13 to move into the second round. She will take on Wang Zhi of China.
Malvika Bansod produced a brilliant fight against the World
number 7 Yeo Jin-Min of Singapore in three games. The first game saw the young
Indian dominating her opponent winning it by 21-9. It was a strong comeback by Yeo
in the second game as Bansod struggled as the Singapore player won it by 21-17
to force the match into the decider.
The third and final game saw Yeo dominating the initial stages
taking a decent lead at the interval. After the break, Bansod showed great
fight and spirit fighting against the higher-ranked player. The Indian had a match
point but both players fought for each point. Yeo held her nerves to win the decider by 26-24.
Kidambi Srikanth was the only Indian male shuttler player to
make it into the second round. He defeated Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia in two
straight games. The first game saw Srikanth dominating his opposition taking an
11-5 lead at the interval. After the break, Yong showed great fight and spirit
to level the scores at 20-20. Srikanth held his nerves to win the first game 22-20.
The second game saw Srikanth dominating and won it easily by
21-15 to move into the second round. He will take on Weng Hong of China.
Sai Praneeth lost to Olympic Champion Jonathan Christie in
two straight games. The Indian could not match the speed and lost by 17-21,
13-21 to be knocked out.
Lakshya Sen suffered a shocking loss to 64th-ranked player Li Sheng Feng of China in three games. The Indian showed great domination
in the first game-winning it easily by 21-12. Li made a strong comeback winning the second game easily at 21-10.
Lakshya dominated his opponent right from the word and had a
commanding lead at the interval. The Indian looked in complete control as Li
showed great fighting spirit to win the third game by 21-19.
PV Sindhu, Srikanth, and Saina Nehwal move into the second round of the Badminton Asia Championship 2022
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