Asian Games 2018: India out of Mixed Doubles event, Sindhu survives a scare

The individual events in Badminton started today. The Indians are expected to show their prowess and fighting spirit and get hold of a couple of medals.

India's P. V. Sindhu (3) started off proceedings against Vietnam's Thi Trang (B) Vu (52). The duo has never met before. Sindhu was expected to have a comfortable outing but she was surprised by the Vietnamese and struggled to win the game 21-10, 12-21, 23-21. The game lasted 58 mins.

Sindhu next plays Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (22) of Indonesia against whom she has a 3-0 record.

Saina Nehwal (10) was more determined to improve her showing in the singles event. She faced Iran's Soraya Aghaeihajiagha (256) and won comfortably 21-7, 21-9 in just 26 mins.

Saina Nehwal next plays Fitriani Fitriani (40) of Indonesia and she has a 3-0 record against the Indonesian.

The Women's doubles team were in action in their round of 32 matches.

Ashwini Ponnappa / N. Sikki Reddy face the tough Malaysians in Pre-Quarters

The first match saw the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa / N. Sikki Reddy (30) defeat Ng Wing Yung / Yeung Nga Ting (64) from Hong Kong 21-15, 21-16 in 32 minutes.

The Indians face a stern test against Chow Mei Kuan / Lee Meng Yean (17) of Malaysia. They have a 1-1 head-head record and promises to be an exciting encounter.

The second match saw Rituparna Panda / Arthi Sara Sunil lost against Chayanit Chaladchalam / Phataimas Muenwong (18) from Thailand 11-21, 6-21 in 29 mins.

The Mixed doubles round of 32 - action featured two Indian teams today.

Pranav Jerry Chopra / N. Sikki Reddy (24) lost against Chan Peng Soon / Goh Liu Ying (9) from Malaysia 15-21, 21-23 in 48 mins. A tough encounter for the Indians as they have lost their previous 2 encounters against the Malaysians. The Indians did play their heart out and would improve their gameplay from such outings.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Ashwini Ponnappa (28) lost against Dechapol Puavaranukroh / Sapsiree Taerattanachai (15) from Thailand 25-27, 16-21 in 50 mins. Rankireddy would be pumped up for the match as he has a victory against the Thai pair in 2016 partnering K Maneesha. With Ashwini supporting him the Indians should be gunning for glory. But the Indians lost crucial points coupled with service errors which denied them a set and decided their fate.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty to take on Korea in Pre-Quarters

In Men's Doubles action round of 32, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty (22) play against Chung Yonny / Tam Chun Hei (163) from Hong Kong. The duo has never played before but the Indians should proceed to the next round without any hurdle. The Indians comfortably won the game 21-12, 21-14 in 32 minutes.

They next face the Korean pair of Choi SolGyu / Min Hyuk Kang.

Manu Attri / B. Sumeeth Reddy to face against the Chinese pair ranked No. 2 in the world

In the second match, Manu Attri / B. Sumeeth Reddy (28) defeated Thoif Ahmed Mohamed / Mohamed Ajfan Rasheed (694) from the Maldives 21-10, 21-8 in 20 mins to breeze through the next round.

They face a tough second round against Chinese pair of Li Junhui / Liu Yuchen (2). Chinese lead the head to head record 1-0 against the Indian duo.

Earlier, the Badminton Team events at the 2018 Asian Games finished at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia from 19 August to 22 August 2018.

As posted earlier the Indians had a tough draw and found it harder to progress beyond the quarterfinals. What was sour through was the loss of Srikanth and Nehwal who were expected to win their matches.

The Indian Men's Team had an easy round of 16 with the Maldives which they won 3-0.

Srikanth Kidambi (8) defeated Hussein Zayan Shaheed (277) 21-4, 21-5.

Prannoy Kumar (11) defeated Sarim Mohamed (889) 21-8, 21-6.

B. Sai Praneeth (23) defeated Mohamed Ajfan Rasheed (1174) 21-7, 21-8.

However, they were toppled by Indonesia who put in a stellar performance with the home support rallying behind them. Indonesia defeated India 3-1.

Srikanth Kidambi (8) lost to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (12) 21-23, 22-20, 10-21.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty (22) lost to Marcus Fernaldi Gideon / Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (1) 21-19, 19-21, 16-21.

Prannoy Kumar (11) defeated Jonatan Christie (15) 21-15, 19-21, 21-19.

Manu Attri / B. Sumeeth Reddy (28) lost to Fajar Alfian / Muhammad Rian Ardianto (9) 14-21, 18-21.

The Indian women's team also lost their quarterfinals to top seeds Japan 1-3.

P. V. Sindhu (3) defeated Akane Yamaguchi (2) 21-18, 21-19.

N. Sikki Reddy / Arathi Sara Sunil lost to Yuki Fukushima / Sayaka Hirota (1) 15-21, 6-21.

Saina Nehwal (10) lost to Nozomi Okuhara (8) 11-21, 25-23, 16-21.

Ashwini Ponnappa / P. V. Sindhu lost to Misaki Matsutomo / Ayaka Takahashi (2) 13-21, 12-21.