Solo (Indonesia), July 21 (IANS) India’s junior badminton team put up a strong fight before going down 110-104 to former champions Japan in the quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Junior Mixed Team Championships.

In a closely contested tie under the relay scoring system, India came out strong after a narrow 11-9 loss in the opening match. The boys’ doubles duo of Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu got India on the board, followed by a composed win from the girls’ pair of Vennala Kalagotla and Reshika Uthayasooriyan to put India ahead 33-26.

Reshika then combined with Bhavya Chhabra to maintain the lead at 44-35, and Rounak Chouhan extended the cushion with another solid performance.

India led for a major part of the tie, but Japan, the 2023 champions, pulled ahead in the final stretch, winning the last five matches in a row. Several of those games went down to the wire, reflecting the grit of the Indian squad.

Despite the narrow exit, India had a strong tournament. They topped Group D with wins over Hong Kong China, the United Arab Emirates, and Sri Lanka, showing depth and balance across singles and doubles.

The Bhargav-Viswa Tej and Reshika-Vennala pairings were consistently impressive, while C Lalramsanga also stood out in his doubles outings, paired up with Bhavya for men’s doubles and Taarini Suri for the mixed doubles.

In singles, Rounak upset world junior No. 5 Lam Ka To, and Rujula Ramu registered wins over two top-20 players.

Organised by Badminton Asia, the mixed team junior championship is an annual continental tournament that involves players competing across boys’ and girls’ singles, doubles and mixed doubles events.

The focus now shifts to the individual championships starting July 23.

The first edition of the mixed team badminton competition was held in 2006. India have never won the Badminton Asia Junior Mixed Team Championships.

–IANS

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