BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships: India go down to Korea in quarter-finals

India’s hopes of winning a medal at the BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships were dashed when they went down 1-3 to heavyweights Korea in the quarter-finals of this prestigious junior badminton tournament in Markham, Canada.

Barring the Asian junior champion Lakshya Sen, none of the other Indians could fetch a win for the team.

The tie began with the mixed doubles match in which the Indian pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila fought valiantly only to taste a 22-20, 14-21, 12-21 defeat against the Korean combine of Na Eun Jeong and Chan Wang.

It was then left to Lakshya to get one win back for India. The 17-year-old started the match poorly, losing the first game 16-21 to Ji Hoon Choi but managed to show his class in the next couple of games to secure a 16-21, 21-18, 21-13 win in 59 minutes.

However, that was the only bright spot for India as they were beaten in the next two matches.

The men’s doubles pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Kapila gave their best before going down 19-21, 21-19, 11-21 to Tae Yang Shin and Chan Wang. In women’s singles, Malvika Bansod could not put up any resistance against junior World No. 30 Ga Eun Park, losing 17-21, 12-21.

India, later on, took on Denmark in the 5-8th place playoff, where they emerged 3-2 winners.

The wins were delivered by Kiran George in men’s singles, the pair of Garaga and Kapila in men’s doubles, and the mixed doubles combine of Srishti Jupudi and Srikrishna Sai Kumar Podile. Gayatri Gopichand Pullela suffered a double whammy, conceding a defeat in both her women’s singles and women’s doubles matches.

On Saturday, India will face the 5/8th seeded Malaysia to decide their final place in this competition.