Qingdao, February 14
Up and coming mixed doubles combination of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto and women's singles player Malvika Bansod gave their all against much higher-ranked opponents but could not avoid India's 3-0 loss against the formidable Japan-winners of the championship in 2017-in the last eight stage of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships 2025 in Qingdao, China on Friday.
Facing the world number 12 combination of Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito in the first match of the tie, Dhruv and Tanisha forced a decider with a spirited fightback in the second game. But, the experienced Japanese combination prevailed in the 61-minute contest 21-13, 17-21, 21-13 to take the lead, as per a press release from Badminton Association of India (BAI).
Malvika then had the task of stopping World No. 8 Tomoka Miyazaki, but her efforts were not enough as she went down 21-12, 21-19 against the Japanese star shuttler.
India needed Asian Games bronze medallist HS Prannoy to put them on track. The 32-year-old kept those hopes alive briefly as he fought back from a game down to take the men's singles match against Kenta Nishimoto in the third and deciding game.
However, Nishimoto was quick to get off the blocks in the decider, racing to a 6-0 lead. Prannoy fought back after changing ends at 3-11, but it was too late to overturn the deficit as he went down 14-21, 21-15, 12-21 in an hour and 17 minutes.
Result: India lost to Japan 0-3 (Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto lost to Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito 13-21, 21-17, 13-21; Malvika Bansod lost to Tomoka Miyazaki 12-21, 19-21; H S Prannoy lost to Kenta Nishimoto 14-21, 21-15, 12-21).
- ANI