Badminton Asia Team Championships

[rajitghosh]

Prannoy got blown away in the 1st game. But came back to beat the World No. 16. Good start for India. Maybe he's getting back into the groove.

[arjun2761]

Good fighting win for Prannoy!

China has their B or C team in this tie. We are also not playing at least 2 of the best among our 5 reps with seemingly SatChi and Srikanth not listed as playing for us in this tie.

[sameerph]

Yes, we lost 2-3 with Chirag Sen losing the last match. Why have we have chosen Chirag Sen ahead of likes of Priyanshu, Kiran George. Probably shows that this tournament is not that important.

Will Lakshya Sen gain anything in term of Olympic qualification by wins here ? Because I think he is the only one with marginal chance for us. Prannoy, Sindhu, SatChi have their places sealed I guess along with one of Tresa-Gayatri and Ashwini-Tanisha.

[rajitghosh]

Chirag Sen is part of the team as national champion. All national champions have been included.

[sameerph]

^^^ Yes but if this is the tournament that matters we should have our best team, not mandate including national champions if national championships did not include those who are ranked above him/her in world rankings.

[Sin Hombre]

Will Lakshya Sen gain anything in term of Olympic qualification by wins here ? Because I think he is the only one with marginal chance for us. Prannoy, Sindhu, SatChi have their places sealed I guess along with one of Tresa-Gayatri and Ashwini-Tanisha.

Lakshya with 5 wins would have a chance to replace his weakest tournament but that requires India reaching the finals.

^^^ Yes but if this is the tournament that matters we should have our best team, not mandate including national champions if national championships did not include those who are ranked above him/her in world rankings.

As pointed out, it doesn't matter much outside of getting PVS into match fitness and some small chances for Lakshya to gain ranking points.

[Sin Hombre]

We are comfortably beating HK in the women's QF as expected. 2-0 up and Ashmita has won her first game.

[rajitghosh]

Indian men have drawn Japan in the quarters. Japan has sent a full strength team. So this would be a tough match. On current form I would rate Japan as favourite.
Women on the other hand drew the weakest opponent in the quarters and are through to the semis. So Sindhu gets to play at least 3 matches to get back into groove.

[pancakesdonuts]

Indian men have drawn Japan in the quarters. Japan has sent a full strength team. So this would be a tough match. On current form I would rate Japan as favourite.
Women on the other hand drew the weakest opponent in the quarters and are through to the semis. So Sindhu gets to play at least 3 matches to get back into groove.

Japan doesn't have full strength team. Their #1 MS Kodai Naraoka, MS #3 Kanta Tsuneyama and #1 MD Hoki/Kobayashi are not playing. They are pretty much beatable.

[pancakesdonuts]

One mistake. Kodai is there

[sameerph]

India and Japan are currently tied 2 matches to all with Srikanth and Momota playing the final match.

Lakshya and SatChi won while HSP and Dhruv-Arjun lost.

[sameerph]

Srikanth managed to snatch defeat from jaws of victory as he lost from leading 19-12 in third game against Momota. And he extends his losing streak against Momota to 13.

So, that is it for our mens team. Overall, improvement from Lakhshya but worrying from Prannoy. Nothing different from Srikanth.

[Sin Hombre]

Aya Ohori is crushing PVS - not good.

[sameerph]

PVS came close in second game but still lost her first match against Aya Ohori after 13 matches which is not a good sign.

However, Tresa-Gayatri had an excellent win over world #6 Japanese pair. Looks like their injury woes are over and this pair is now back to their best.

[Sin Hombre]

Treesa/Gayatri have a higher ceiling right now than Tanisha and Ashwini. In form, the former can make a deep run at a top-level tournament.

Ashmita Chaliha beat former world #1 and world champion Okuhara in straight games. That's a pretty impressive win even though the latter is only ranked 20 in the world these days.

PVS has somehow replaced Tanisha in the second doubles. I hope she didn't overrule Tanisha here.