MALAYSIA: The young Indian men’s team, led by world championship bronze medallist Lakshya Sen, suffered an embarrassing 0-5 defeat against Korea in the opening group A match of the Badminton Asia Team Championships, here on Tuesday.
A lot was expected from India Open winner Lakshya but the world number 13 Indian went down 11-21 19-21 to Jeon Hyeok Jin in 42 minutes.The pairing of Ravikrishna PS and Sankar Prasad Udayakumar, who had reached the finals of the Odisha Open, then slumped to a 8-21 10-21 defeat against Hwi Tae Kim and Kim Jaehwan as India lagged 0-2.
World number 75 Kiran George, who had won his maiden super 100 crown in Odisha, then failed to get across Joo Wan Kim, losing 18-21 14-21 to Joo Wan Kim in 42 minutes as Korea grabbed an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Nothing changed in the second doubles with Manjit Singh Khwairakpam and Dingku Singh Konthoujam losing 7-21 15-21 to Yong Jin and Na Sung Seung.Mithun Manjunath then put up a brave effort before going down 16-21 27-25 14-21 against Min Sun Jeong in the fifth and final match.
The men’s team will next face Hong Kong on Thursday. The Indian women’s team will start their campaign against hosts Malaysia in group Y on Wednesday.
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