Qingdao (China), Feb 13 (IANS) 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 on Thursday.
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.
India’s campaign in the last edition of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship ended with a 2-3 loss to China in the semifinals and they returned home with a first-ever medal — a bronze — from the continental tournament.
Result: India lost to South Korea 2-3 (Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto lost to Ki Dong Ju/Jeong Na Eun 21-11, 12-21, 15-21; Malvika Bansod lost to Sim Yu Jin 9-21, 10-21; Satish Karunakaran beat Cho Geonyeop 17-21, 21-18, 21-19; Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly beat Kim Min Ji/Kim Yu Jung 19-21, 21-16, 21-11; MR Arjun/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost to Jin Yong/Na Sung Seung 14-21, 23-25).
–IANS
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