7.40 pm: Just PV Sindhu left in contention to go the distance for India. All said and done, that is a disappointing outcome for the Indian contingent, in the year of the Asian Games. Join us on Saturday for the semi-final action.

SUMMARY:

Women’s singles: Sindhu assured of a second BAC medal, reaches final after a thrilling win against He Bingjiao. She will face top seed Akane Yamaguchi in the semifinal.

Men’s doubles: Satwik-Chirag lose a three-game battle against Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Chia/Soh.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 16-21 Chia-Soh: So the semifinals in MD is one all Malaysian affair and one all Indonesian affair. Sounds about right, given their strength in this field at the moment.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 16-21 Chia-Soh: The match ends on an error from the Indians and that about sums it up. A superb little run at the end from the Indians ended with a service error when it could have potentially been 17-18. Instead the Malaysians close it out. Not for the first time, service errors costing the Indian pairing at critical times. This must sting the Indians, a medal was at stake. But all credit to Malaysians for the turnaround.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 16-20 Chia-Soh: Not this again... service error for height at 16-18 by Chirag. Momentum gone. The Indians really, really need to work on this. Match points now for the Malaysians.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 16-18 Chia-Soh: Well, well. Superb direction change from Satwik and a smash from Chirag to kill the point.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 15-18 Chia-Soh: Last chance saloon for the Indians. Couple of good points on Chirag’s serve.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 13-18 Chia-Soh: Service fault from Aaron, and he is not happy with the call at all. Foot fault it seems, that’s rare.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 12-17 Chia-Soh: Soh gives the serves back cheaply... good point next from Chirag. But Soh makes up with a superb smash return.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 10-16 Chia-Soh: Aaron Chia is just taking over at the moment. Too big a gap to turn this around.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 10-14 Chia-Soh: Heh, you don’t see that often. Soh loses his racket while diving and he is off court, the Indians finish the point off promptly. Still just about in this, the Indians.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 9-14 Chia-Soh: Good defence from Chirag but relentless pressure from Soh. The Indians slowing things down again.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 8-13 Chia-Soh: Chirag with good play, it’s a 4-point game. And then Chia does his lightning thing again at the net, serve back with the Malaysians.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 6-12 Chia-Soh: Satwik gets the serve back and the Indians need a run of points pronto... but Chia with a superb service return to snuff that out for now.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 4-11 Chia-Soh: A nice behind-the-back winner from Satwik but really that is the only thing going for them here. Soon after, another 11-4 lead for the Malaysians. “They can’t stop the Malaysian machine,” says the commentator.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 2-8 Chia-Soh: The momentum is completely with the Tokyo 2020 bronze medalists now. Satwik-Chirag trying to slow things down between points but it is not doing anything. Slipping away really fast, 2-8.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 2-6 Chia-Soh: This is not ideal, from their supposed good side, the Indians are trailing by four points. And they slow it down here. Need a run of points soon here or this could be out of reach soon.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21, 2-4 Chia-Soh: Brilliant rally, and Soh with a super change of direction to catch Chirag short.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-21 Chia-Soh: Well, an impressive performance by Chia-Soh in the second game to take it 21-14. Satwik-Chirag will need to put this behind them quickly as we head to a decider. It was a decent turnaround from the Indians after the interval though, could hold them in good stead in the decider at the change of ends. The match still in the balance.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 14-20 Chia-Soh: Couple of game points saved, could help with some momentum for the Indians.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 12-20 Chia-Soh: Ah that point really did show the drift’s impact. A decent enough block for Satwik but it just steadily swung out. wide. Game points galore for the Malaysians.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 11-18 Chia-Soh: Decent little phase for the Indians this.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 9-17 Chia-Soh: There have not been too many of these in the second game, but a superb rally from all four players ends with the point going the Indian’s favour. Neither side holding serve thought.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 6-14 Chia-Soh: Aaron Chia is made to wait and wait and wonder where the official review is going to show up in the arena! It’s a good review though. It is now a HUGE lead for the Malaysians, Chirag gets the serve with a delightful backhand winner. Now or never in this game for the Indians.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 5-11 Chia-Soh: Ah well, there’s the service error from Satwik. Mandatory! At least it comes at a less-costly situation. (We kid.) Soon enough, the Malaysians go into the interval with a significant lead.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 5-8 Chia-Soh: Quick exchange of serves at the moment.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 3-6 Chia-Soh: The Indians just slowing things down between points... and a nice exchange to get the serve back.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 2-6 Chia-Soh: That’s more like from Aaron Chia... he is starting to dictate the tempo and when he does that, the Malaysians are one of the best in the world. Biggish lead at the start of game 2.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-12 Chia-Soh: That’s the first game in the bag for Satwik and Chirag! Chia-Soh with a number of errors and the Indians were just too solid in the opener. They take it 21-12.Mathias Boe would have been proud to see how good Satwik-Chirag were in that opening game. Chia/Soh have not been allowed to settle at all, constantly chasing rallies.

But not quite over yet. The games have fluctuated wildly this tournament with change of ends.

A look at the previous meetings b/w these two pairs

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 17-10 Chia-Soh: Oh Chirag! First a brutal smash and then a terrific change of angle with a touch that is so delicate. Two superb winners. Indians are running away with this.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 13-10 Chia-Soh: Service fault for height and the serve is back with Indians.

Meanwhile, remember the name WENG HONG YANG.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 12-8 Chia-Soh: Another super fast rally and a great exchange results in another super point for the Indians.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 11-7 Chia-Soh: a run of SIX straight points and the Indians are into a 11-7 lead at the interval. Time for Mathias Boe to have a word with his wards.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 9-7 Chia-Soh: FANTASTIC RALLY. That’s the sort of points we are so used to seeing at the top of the MD chain. Super fast exchange, and the Indians are in a good run of points to make it 9-7.

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag 5-5 Chia-Soh: After a series of quick service changes to start, the Malaysians open up a small lead. But the Indians claw back to make this level.

(And yes, in case you are wondering who that familiar face is, Mathias Boe is back in the chair for the Indians.)

Men’s doubles quarterfinal, Satwik-Chirag vs Chia-Soh: The third seeded Indian pair, take on Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik from Malaysia. Chia/Soh lead the H2H 3-0 against the Indians. This could be a cracker

Satwik-Chirag time!

Men’s singles, Jonatan Christie vs Loh Kean Yew: 21-21 in the 2nd game and then JoJo comes up with a relentless point to have a match point.

Men’s singles: This is goosebumps badminton from Jonatan Christie and Loh Kean Yew. JoJo led 19-16, LohKY now goes up 20-19. And then the Indonesian takes it to deuce! Again extra points needed.

Men’s singles: Will Loh Kean Yew force a decider or will Christie win in straight games? Satwik-Chirag up next.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals: Satwik-Chirag in action two matches after the current one on Court 1 where Lee Zii Jia is currently close to winning game 1. Stay tuned for live updates from the doubles match.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, Yamaguchi vs Chochuwong: Pornpawee Chochuwong throws the racket up in frustration. Barely a hint of celebration from Akane Yamaguchi, just an acknowledgment to her opponent at the end.

Semifinal: PV Sindhu vs Akane Yamaguchi, chapter 22

Women’s singles quarterfinals, Yamaguchi vs Chochuwong: Just realised that this is the FIFTH straight match (all from the start of 2021) between these two players that has gone to three games.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, Yamaguchi vs Chochuwong: 18-14 Akane Yamaguchi! Frustration for Pornpawee Chochuwong but the Japanese is just going about it like this is no big deal in the decider.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, Yamaguchi vs Chochuwong: Akane with the lead going to the final change of ends, 11-10.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, Yamaguchi vs Chochuwong: Yamaguchi has taken the 2nd game 21-15 and it is 5-5... 6-6 in the decider. We could be in for another thriller.

In case any of you were wondering regarding Sindhu’s match, coach Park Tae Sang is on leave till May and Vidhi Chaudhary, part of the Suchitra Academy Hyderabad, was the one accompanying her today.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, Yamaguchi vs Chochuwong: Chochuwong had taken the opening game 21-9 against the top seed and world champion Akane Yamaguchi! But Akane is fighting back, 11-10 in the 2nd.

As Vaibhav points out, that is actually the first match HBJ lost on court this year.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, Yamaguchi vs Chochuwong here:

Play

A second Asian Championship individual medal confirmed for Sindhu, can she make it to the final for the first time? Will face the winner of the semifinal between Akane Yamaguchi and Pornpawee Chochuwong that has just started on Court 2.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 21-19 He Bingjiao: WHAT A MATCH! PV SINDHU WINS! And with a very emotional celebration, she reaches the semifinal after a thriller against He Bingjiao. A dramatic finish. Scoring confusion, net chords & finally a big win. The match was won by, amazingly enough, the net chord going Sindhu’s way!

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 20-18 He Bingjiao: The shuttle is dangling on the net and falls to Sindhu’s side! Two match points saved!

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 20-17 He Bingjiao: Four match points Sindhu as a HBJ makes an error on the backcourt. She saves one of it though, a quiet fist pump. Not over yet.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 19-16 He Bingjiao: The body smash has been Sindhu’s big ally today! And it comes to her rescue again.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 18-16 He Bingjiao: HBJ is sprawling, diving forward, but Sindhu’s crosscourt slice hits the net. Sheepish smile. The tension is immense here.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 18-15 He Bingjiao: BRILLIANT RALLY! And Sindhu roars, as does the crowd along with her. Good recovery from the Indian.

Just felt like there was another twist in this match... and He Bingjiao has closed things down. And there is some confusion with the scores. No one knows what is going on. I have it as 16-14 to Sindhu but massive confusion.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 16-13 He Bingjiao: That’s more like the Sindhu review we have come to embrace! Just to break the momentum, it would seem, the push was well long. HBJ has made it a 4-point game. And another fantastic crosscourt drop at the net! Three point game!

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 16-11 He Bingjiao: Sindhu is willing herself on at the moment as a lift from HBJ sails well over. The Chinese gets the serve back as Sindhu’s crosscourt lift goes wide. The quality has just dipped from both in this phase.... and as I type that, a delightful drop at the net from HBJ.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 15-9 He Bingjiao: Couple of strange misses from Sindhu, misses a overhead and then a defensive block by a fair distance despite getting into position. Can’t afford to lose the momentum here.... and she nails the body smash again next point.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 14-7 He Bingjiao: Biggest roars of the match so far as HBJ makes another error, followed by a Sindhu special body smash.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 11-5 He Bingjiao: PV Sindhu with a superb crosscourt smash and she has a big lead going into the final change of ends! Can He Bingjiao come back here from the side that she dominated the 2nd half of 2nd game?

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 10-5 He Bingjiao: A lift that seemed to be landing Sindhu in imminent trouble but a jump smash from HBJ lands in the middle of the net. Huge error that, with momentum on her side a bit. Another error from her and it’s a 5-point game again.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 8-5 He Bingjiao: Rally of the match! PV Sindhu and He Bingjiao play a superb point, pushing each other front and back but it is the Indian who clinches it with a well placed lift to the back court. She knows it was a great point too, leads 7-2. But HBJ quietly makes a mini comeback soon after.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 6-2 He Bingjiao: Sindhu realising the importance of an early lead in the decider. Definitely injected more pace into her shots, moving He Bingjiao front and back, trying to impose herself after winning a point. HBJ trying to slow down the pace as well, a sign she is perhaps feeling the pace.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21, 3-2 He Bingjiao: Well, well. Sindhu gets a review right. That’s good to see! On a serious note, this is an aggressive start by Sindhu even if the scoreboard is still very tight.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-21 He Bingjiao: A really close contest in the first half of the opening game but from 10-10, the Chinese shuttler just took off. Sindhu couldn’t control her errors and HBJ found great angles. Sindhu will need a strong start to the third game, as she will finish from this side.

.Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 13-20 He Bingjiao: Sindhu has the serve back after a wrong challenge from HBJ. Still game points galore for the Chinese.

.Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 11-19 He Bingjiao: ..and now the errors flowing from Sindhu. Huge turnaround from 10-10.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 11-17 He Bingjiao: Fantastic rally and signs that the drift is playing a part too. A sensational late shot from the backcourt by He as she thinks she has misjudged this and then it somehow lands in just on the other side of the net. Couple more points after that. Sindhu chasing the game now.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 10-14 He Bingjiao: And HBJ has consolidated to a bigger advantage after the break. Best phase for her yet

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 10-11 He Bingjiao: A lovely subtle winner at the net and that is HBJ at her best! From 10-10, she goes into the interval with the lead. Game on, folks.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 9-8 He Bingjiao: Corrected score

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 9-8 He Bingjiao: He Bingjiao has certainly found her radar now (lovely couple of crosscourt winners at the net and then to the backcourt) even though the errors are still more from her racket. Sindhu certainly knows she is in a proper battle now, the ‘come on!’s are getting more frequent. Good contest at the moment, Sindhu sneaks back ahead.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 6-6 He Bingjiao: Increasingly certain that the change of ends is impacting rallies for sure. Sindhu’s lifts are a bit short at the moment, and that is letting HBJ kill off points with her body smashes. Unlike HBJ in the opening game though, Sindhu not letting this get away from her. Couple of big roars from the Indians as she levels things up.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9, 3-4 He Bingjiao: On the early indications of game 2, may not be anything serious physically that is bothering BHJ. Aggressive start from her, good movement, even a dive during a rally that we didn’t early. Sindhu has the serve back after a hard-fought rally.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 21-9 He Bingjiao: Game 1, Sindhu! Great control from the Indian star for pretty much the duration of the opening game. He Bingjiao held her left shoulder a couple of times, perhaps a niggle? Not clear yet. She looks a bit frustrated during the interval, whether that is pain or not... we’ll see. Sindhu should focus on doing the things she is at the moment.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 20-9 He Bingjiao: Possibly a left shoulder issue for HBJ? She has held it a couple of times now and has not been returning well from her forehand side. Game points galore for Sindhu but He saves a couple.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 18-7 He Bingjiao: Not many crosscourt from Sindhu, but she nails the smash there (still not going for the lines though, focussed on keeping the shuttle well in play). Sharp kill at the net after that.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 16-7 He Bingjiao: Sindhu meanwhile, playing with great control. Seems to be concentrating on playing straight, avoiding crosscourt shots given the drift perhaps. Good stuff from the Indian so far. HBJ meanwhile is starting to just find her radar now. Might be too late for game 1, but could still get interesting.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 11-2 He Bingjiao: Just far too many errors from the Chinese left-hander at the moment. Sindhu reaping the rewards for a clean start. Good lea at the interval.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 9-2 He Bingjiao: On attack and defence, HBJ has not adjusted her lengths yet. Sindhu keeping things straight as much as possible.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu 5-2 He Bingjiao: Good start for Sindhu, here. Good defence on show early on, that’s a nice sign. Both players clearly trying to first find the right pace on this court regarding the lengths.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu vs He Bingjiao: HBJ to serve, we are underway. Players have spoken about conditions being tricky in Manila this week, will be interesting to see how much control both players have.

Women’s singles quarterfinals, PV Sindhu vs He Bingjiao: Players on court. No 7 vs No 9 and a 7-9 H2H. Sindhu has her issues against lefties, we know. But she looked strong in the bronze playoff in Tokyo. She will need to be at her best.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Badminton Asia Championships, it is quarterfinals day in Phillipines.

There are two matches featuring Indians today. Fourth seeded PV Sindhu progressed to the last eight of the Badminton Asia Championships in Manila after coming up with a 21-16, 21-16 win over Singapore’s Yue Yann Jaslyn Hooi. She takes on China’s He Bing Jiao, the fifth seed who the Indian had beaten for the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year. This will be the first match of the day on Court 1.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are also through to the quarterfinals after a 21-17, 21-15 win over the Japanese team of Akira Koga and Taichi Saito. They will play fifth seeds Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh. This will be the penultimate match on Court 1.

Screenshots in the blog courtesy Tournament Software / Sony Sports Network