Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu made a successful return from a prolonged damage lay-off as India shocked formidable China 3-2 within the girls’s competitors of the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam, Malaysia on Wednesday. With simply two groups in Group W, India had been assured of a knock-out spherical berth even earlier than their opening match however the staff made its mark in fashion with the shock win over the top-seeded Chinese aspect.

The Indian males’s staff, which lifted the Thomas Cup in 2022 and secured a first-ever silver medal finally yr’s Asian Games, registered a dominating 4-1 win over Hong Kong to qualify for the knock-out spherical from Group A.

Hong Kong had misplaced to China 0-5 on Tuesday.

India will tackle high seeds China on Thursday to resolve the group winner within the males’s part.

Sindhu, who was lacking in motion since October final yr on account of a knee damage sustained on the French Open, led the best way as she beat higher-ranked Han Yue 21-17 21-15 in 40 minutes to offer India 1-0 lead within the girls’s tie.

The 28-year-old, who gained a silver within the 2016 Olympics adopted by a bronze within the Tokyo Games, is presently ranked eleventh whereas Yue is world quantity eight.

The pair of Tanisha Castro and Ashwini Ponappa then misplaced to Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning 19-21 16-21, adopted by Ashmita Chaliha’s 13-21 15-21 loss to world quantity 9 Wang Zhi Yi, as India trailed 1-2 after three matches.

India had been on stage phrases when Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand beat the Chinese duo of Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min 10-21 21-18 21-17 in a single hour and 9 minutes within the girls’s doubles.

In the deciding match towards the second-string Chinese outfit, Anmol Kharb punched means above her weight because the 472nd-ranked Indian emerged 22-20 14-21 21-18 winner over world quantity 149 Wu Luo Yu in a gruelling one hour and 17 minute contest to offer India a memorable win.

Meanwhile, within the males’s competitors, HS Prannoy misplaced the primary singles towards Ng Ka Long Angus 18-21 14-21 however that turned out to be the one blip for India who gained the subsequent 4 matches.

World primary males’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had been ruthless of their 33-minute-long 21-16 21-11 win over Lui Chun Wai and Yeung Shing Choi earlier than Lakshya Sen simply beat Chan Yin Chak 21-14 21-9 to offer India the lead.

With momentum on their aspect, India shortly wrapped up the tie with the pair of M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila making it 3-1 with a 21-12 21-7 win over Chow Hin Long and Hung Kuei Chun, earlier than Kidambi Srikanth beat Jason Gunawan 21-14 21-18 to finish the rout.

The high two groups from every of the 4 teams will make it to the knock-out spherical.