Shah Alam. India’s women shuttlers created history in the Badminton Asia Championship. In the semi-final match played on Saturday, India defeated two-time champion Japan 3-2 and succeeded in making it to the final of the championship for the first time.
Indian women shuttlers continue to perform strongly in the championship held in Malaysia. After defeating China in the first round, they defeated two-time former champion Japan 3-2 in a thrilling semi-final. In the match, PV Sindhu, who was returning after a long time due to injury, lost to Japan’s Aya Ohori 13-21, 20-22 in the first singles. But Trisha and Gayatri performed brilliantly in the first doubles by defeating the world number six pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 21-17, 16-21, 22-20 and brought India to a 1-1 draw.
After this, Asmita again demonstrated an aggressive game against former world champion Nojomi Okuhara and with the help of her cross shot and smash, she won 21-17, 21-14 and put India ahead by 2-1. Tanisha Crasto was injured due to which Sindhu paired with Ashwini Ponnappa but they could not overcome the hurdle of world number 11 pair of Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto and lost 14-21 11-21 in 43 minutes. Now both the teams were tied at 2-2.
Anmol Kharb won the decisive match
In the final and decisive match, Anmol Khabar faced the world’s 29th player Natsuki Ndaira, who as per the expectations of the Indians, won 21-14, 21-18 in 52 minutes, taking India to the final for the first time.