In what is nothing short of a historic day for Indian badminton, the women’s team beat China 3-2 in Group W of the Badminton Asia Team Championships on Wednesday. What was even more significant was the fact that it was teen sensation Anmol Kharb who took India to the finishing line, in the deciding match of the all-important tie. Now, after topping the group, India has made it to the quarters.
17-year-old Anmol, ranked 472nd in the world, got the better of Wu LY of China, who is ranked 172nd in the world. The Indian girl won in three games, 22-20, 14-21, 21-18. This win will of course be a major shot in the arm for the Indian women shuttlers, who have been low on confidence in the last year or so. Meanwhile, Anmol Kharb had made the team only after proving her worth, by winning the Senior Nationals recently.
Sindhu & Treesa/Gayatri Win Too
The other two wins on the day came by PV Sindhu and the doubles team of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand. Sindhu, who was playing her first match after return from knee injury, looked at her best to hand WR-8 Han Yue a straight-games defeat 21-17, 21-15.
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The women’s doubles team of Treesa/Gayatri though, had to dig deep in their win over Li YJ and Luo XM, 10-21, 21-18, 21-17. On the other hand, the team of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto lost to Liu SS and Tan N 19-21, 16-21. Ashmita Chaliha too lost her singles match against Wang ZY, the WR-9, 13-21, 15-21.
