Badminton Asia Junior Team C'ships: India seal quarterfinal spot with win over Kazakhstan
Yatsushiro, June 27
Team India sealed their quarterfinals spot in the Badminton Asia Junior Mixed Team Championships with a dominant 2-0 win over Kazakhstan in their Group C opener here on Saturday.
With the all important clash against Chinese Taipei to decide the group winner looming, India mixed things up in doubles.
Girls' doubles pairing of Durga Esha Kandrapu and Keerthy Manchala gave India a strong start with a 11-5 win over Alissa Kuleshova and Diana Namenova.
Puneeth Suresh and Deepti Raj Aditi were then taken the distance by Mustafa Malikzhan and Kuleshova but they managed to eke out a 11-10 win to take the score to 22-15. The Indians then dominated the next three categories to win the first set.
The second set then turned out to be a cakewalk as none of the players conceded more than six points in any of the matches.
India have been drawn in Group C for the mixed team event along with Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and the Philippines. India have a shot to challenge for the mixed team gold medal, to be played in a relay format, where the team first reaching 110 points will win the tie. India, the last bronze medalists, startef their campaign in the group stages before moving onto the quarter-final and then playing knockout matches all the way to the finals.
India's challenge at the 2026 Badminton Asia Junior Championships was spear headed by the duo of Tanvi Patri and Abhinav Garg who will feature in the 19-member Indian squad for the championship in Yatsushiro, Japan, scheduled to be held from June 26 to July 5.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Impressive dominance from the Indian youngsters. The 110-point relay format is quite unique — makes every game crucial. India's depth in junior badminton is really showing with this squad.
Good to see our juniors performing well but honestly, we need to focus more on singles consistency. Doubles is fine but future Olympics depend on building strong singles players too. Hope the coaches are working on that. All the best to the team! 🙏
So proud of our young shuttlers! Durga and Keerthy looked solid. And Puneeth Suresh showed real grit in that close game. This is how champions are built — one match at a time. Jai Hind! 🇮🇳
Dominant performance by India. Kazakhstan didn't stand a chance. The relay format is interesting — it really tests team depth. Looking forward to seeing how they handle Chinese Taipei. Exciting times for Indian badminton!
This is the kind of dominance we need to keep seeing! But I wish the article gave more details about individual performances. Who played well under pressure? Still, great to see our future stars shining. Bring on Chinese Taipei! 🏸💪
Excellent performance by our
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