Intro: India swept Bangladesh 3-0 to enter the badminton men’s team quarter-finals, setting up a medal-deciding clash against hosts Japan.
Ichinomiya City
India advanced to the men’s badminton team quarter-finals at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Monday after completing a dominant 3-0 victory over Bangladesh without dropping a single game.
Paris 2024 semi-finalist Lakshya Sen opened the tie for India and comfortably defeated Jaman Ayman Ibn 21-4, 21-12. Ayush Shetty then extended India’s advantage with another convincing straight-game victory, beating Gourab Singha 21-4, 21-13.
Kidambi Srikanth completed the clean sweep by overcoming Jumar Al-Amin 21-15, 21-9, sending the Indian team into the last eight without requiring its doubles combinations.
India will now face hosts Japan in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, with a victory in the tie guaranteeing the team a medal. The contest could produce several intriguing individual match-ups, including a potential singles clash between Lakshya and Kodai Naraoka.
Ayush could also face Yushi Tanaka, while India’s leading men’s doubles combination, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, could potentially meet Japan’s Hiroki Okamura and Takuro Hoki, depending on the final tie-ups.
India entered the quarter-finals after another strong team-event campaign, continuing the momentum from the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, where the side won the silver medal.
At Hangzhou, India defeated the Republic of Korea 3-2 in the semi-finals before losing to China in the gold-medal tie.
The Indian women’s team will also meet Japan in the quarter-finals on Tuesday after beginning its campaign with a 3-0 victory over Kazakhstan on Sunday.