INDONESIA remained on track to join the last four from Group A following a 3-2 win over Korea in the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2022 match which saw the three-time BATC champion forced to slog a 235-minute battle at the Setia City Convention Centre.
The tie could have gone either way and with both teams tied at 2-2, it was left to Christian Hadinata or Jeong Min Sun to seal the winning points for their teams.
Both were involved in an hour-long battle with Christian getting the upper hand after winning 21-19 in the first set. Jeong clawed back to force a rubber after winning 21-11 in the second but the Indonesian put up a gutsy display to seal the match 21-17 in 59 minutes.
First singles Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo continued his winning streak with a 21-18, 15-21, 21-9 victory over Jeon Hyeuk Jin to put the Indonesians one up over their rivals.
However, doubles pair Yong Jin-Na Sung Seung put things back on level terms with a straight-set 21-10, 21-19 victory over Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan in just 31 minutes.
Korea found themselves in the lead following second singles Joo Wan Kim’s 21-18, 21-14 win over Ikhsan Rumbay but Noh Jin Seong-Yoon Dae Ill stumbled in their efforts to seal the tie after losing to Leo Rolly Carnado-Daniel Marthin 21-13, 21-13.
Christian Adinata then sealed the tie in favour of Indonesia despite having to slog out for 59 minutes against the determined Jeong Min Sun before winning 21-19, 11-21, 21-17.
INDIA 3 HONG KONG 2
Meanwhile, India bounced back from their opening day defeat at the hands of Korea with a slim 3-2 win over Hong Kong.
Indian Open winner and world number 13 Lakshya Sen, who suffered an embarrassing defeat to lower-ranked Korea Jeon Hyeok Jin on Tuesday, made amends with a commanding display to win 21-19, 21-10 over Lee Cheuk Yu in 35 minutes.
But doubles pair Manjit Singh Kwairakpam-Konthoujam Dingku Singh succumbed to pressure and lost 22-20, 15-21, 18-21 to Law Cheuk Him/Reginald Lee to put things back to square one.
Hong Kong found themselves ahead when Chan Yin Chak defeated George Kiran 21-13, 17-21, 21-9 before the pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan-Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi dashed Hong Kong’s hope of an early victory after dumping Chow Hin Long-Lui Chun Wai 21-17, 21-16.
Mithun Manjunath then delivered the winning point to keep India back in contention for a place in the semifinals after defeating Jason Gunawan 21-14, 17-21, 21-11 in 1 hour 04 minutes.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong women’s team had an easy day trouncing Kazakhstan 5-0 to remain third in Group Z table standing.
The Selangor Badminton Asia Team Championships 2022 serves as a qualifier for the 2022 Thomas and Uber Cup Finals scheduled to be held in Bangkok from May 8 to 15.
The tournament, organised by the Selangor Sports Council, is hosted by the Selangor State Government and in collaboration with Badminton Asia and Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), ends on Sunday, February 20.
