Saina, Prannoy lose in semis at Asia Championships
Wuhan, April 28 :Indian singles stars Saina Nehwal and H.S. Prannoy settled for bronze medals after losing in the semi-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships here on Saturday.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina lost to Chinese Taipei top seed Tai Tzu Ying 25-27, 19-21 in 45 minutes. It was Saina's third bronze medal in the Asia Championships.
Following her ninth consecutive win against Saina, Tai has taken a 11-5 lead in head-to-head record against the veteran Indian.
In the final, world No.2 Tai will meet Chinese sixth seed Chen Yufei, who eased past South Korean seventh seed Sung Ji Hyun 21-12, 21-13 in 37 minutes.
The 20-year-old Yufei booked a spot in the final without dropping one game in four matches.
"Tai is keeping good form this year. I haven't beat her for a long time, so she is really a tough rival for me to play," Yufei was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. "But I will try to give out my best to challenge her."
In a men's singles semi-final, Prannoy was defeated by Reigning Olympic champion and Chinese third seed Chen Long, who won 21-16, 21-18 in 52 minutes.
World No.10 Prannoy bagged his first medal at the continental meet. It was India's first medal since Anup Sridhar's bronze medal in 2007.
In the final, former world champion and home favourite Chen will meet unseeded Japanese Kento Momota, who stunned fifth seed and Malaysian veteran Lee Chong Wei with a 21-19, 21-14 victory in 55 minutes.
The men's doubles final will be fought between the Chinese top-seeded pair of Li Junhui and Liu Yucheng and Japanese pair Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda.
Junhui and Yucheng were one match away from defending the title when they overcame compatriots Huang Kaixiang and Wang Yilyu 21-17, 14-21, 21-10, while Kamura and Sonoda went past home duo of Zhang Nan and Liu Cheng 14-21, 21-12, 25-23.
In the women's doubles final, Japanese third seeds Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota will meet second seeded comnpatriots Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi.
The mixed doubles final will be a battle between Indonesian top seeded Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir and Chinese second seeds Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping.
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Araijeet's four goals hand India 5th title in men's junior Asia Cup
Muscat, Dec 4: Araijeet Singh Hundal slammed four goals as defending champions India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 5-3 in the summit clash to win a hat-trick of titles in the men's junior Asia Cup here on Wednesday.
This was India's fifth title in the continental tournament, having previously won the crown in 2004, 2008, 2015 and 2023.
The tournament was not held in 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Araijeet converted three penalty corners in the fourth, 18th and 54th minutes besides finding the net from a field effort in the 47th minute. Dilraj Singh (19th) was the other goal getter for India.
For Pakistan, Sufyan Khan (30th, 39th) converted two penalty corners, while Hannan Shahid scored from field play in the third minute.
Japan defeated Malaysia 2-1 to claim the third spot earlier in the day.
There was hardly anything to differentiate between the two sides as both India and Pakistan fought hard for ball possession in the first quarter.
The highlight of the first quarter was ariel passes employed by both the teams.
But Pakistan had the first laugh, striking as early as the third minute through a field goal from Shahid.
India didn't sit back and secured their first penalty corner seconds later, and Araijeet stepped up to draw level with a powerful drag-flick to the right of Pakistan goalkeeper.
India upped their game in the second quarter and secured their second penalty corner in the 18th minute and Araijeet struck again with another powerful flick.
A minute later, a fine field goal by Dilraj extended India's lead to 3-1.
Pakistan, however, reduced the margin in the 30th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Sufyan.
Pakistan were the better side on display after the change of ends and they drew level in the 39th minute through another penalty corner conversion by Sufyan.
India secured their third penalty corner in the 47th minute, but Araijeet's effort was saved by Pakistan goalkeeper Muhammad Janjua.
Araijeet, however, was not to be denied his hat-trick as he found the net from a field effort seconds later to hand India the lead again.
India pressed hard on the Pakistan citadel in the final 10 minutes and secured a few more penalty corners and Araijeet found the net again from a fine variation to make the scoreline 5-3.
