Asian Games: Unnati, Sindhu lose as Japan lead India 2-0 in badminton women's team QF

Ichinomiya City, Sep 22 (IANS) Indian youngster Unnati Hooda lost the second tie of the women's team quarterfinal against Akane Yamaguchi here at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium as Japan are leading India 2-0.

Unnati was leading 11-10 at the break in the first game, but the Indian lost momentum, allowing the Japanese shuttler to make a comeback and take the opening game 21-16.

The Indian was leading 11-4 in the second game, but as the finish line approached, she was trailing 15-16, and the Japanese didn't let the Indian come back in the game, wrapping up the match by taking the second 18-21.

Now the onus is now on the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand to keep India's hopes alive in the quarterfinal as they are taking on Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.

Earlier in the first rubber, after rallying to win the first game in a tie-break, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu lost 21-23, 21-18, 21-11 against three-time world champion Yamaguchi.

Sindhu did well to cover up the 6-10 deficit, reaching 12-12 staging another comeback from 15-18 and saving a game point to win the opening game 23-21.

In the second game, fighting back from 12-17 down, Sindhu has reeled off a burst of quick points to close the gap to 16-18. Yamaguchi immediately responded to the nudge ahead 19-16, only for Sindhu to unleash a smash that the Japanese player failed to retrieve. But that isn’t enough to prevent Yamaguchi from claiming the second game 21-18.

The decider turned out to be a one-sided affair, with Yamaguchi dominating Sindhu. The physical toll of the gruelling exchange started to show on Sindhu early, who trailed 4-11 at the mid-way mark. The contest ended for Sindhu in an 11-21 defeat.

India’s women have won just one Asian Games team medal, a bronze at the 2014 Incheon Games. In the 2023 edition, Indian women bowed out in the quarterfinal after losing 0-3 to Thailand.

--IANS

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