India made a smooth start to their women’s team badminton campaign at the Asian Games, defeating Kazakhstan 3-0 in the Round of 16 in Aichi-Nagoya on Sunday. All three singles matches ended within 25 minutes, allowing India to complete a comfortable victory without needing either of their doubles combinations to play.
Asian Games Day 1 Highlights
PV Sindhu got India off to a strong start in the opening rubber, comfortably beating Kamila Smagulova 21-7, 21-9. The former world champion needed only 20 minutes to give India a 1-0 lead.
Unnati Hooda then strengthened India’s advantage with another dominant display, defeating Alissa Kuleshova 21-7, 21-10. Tanvi Sharma sealed the tie in the third singles match, overcoming Diana Namenova 21-5, 21-10.
With India completing a 3-0 victory, neither the second doubles pair of Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi nor the first combination of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela had to take the court.
India will face a considerably tougher test against Japan in the quarter-finals on September 22, with a place in the medal rounds on the line.
India have secured only one medal in the women’s team event at the Asian Games, a bronze in 2014. Their bid to go further this time will face a major challenge against a strong Japanese team.
Sindhu and the Treesa-Gayatri pairing are expected to play important roles if India are to progress, while either Unnati or Tanvi will need to secure a victory in the remaining singles match.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s team will begin its Asian Games campaign against Bangladesh in Nagoya on Monday.
