Lakshya Sen and Aakarshi Kashyap put India on their way to a 5-0 win against United Arab Emirates in the Group B contest of Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship in Dubai on Tuesday.
Indian shuttlers won all five of their matches in the tie in straight games to maintain a perfect record so far.
With a spot in the quarterfinals assured, India will face Malaysia next to decide the group toppers. Malaysia are also unbeaten so far after two matches.
After HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu featured on day 1, India fielded a much-changed lineup with new entries in all but the mixed doubles tie.
Sen was pushed in the opening match but managed to prevail in 31 minutes. Kashyap then sealed a quick win in women’s singles. The makeshift pairing of Dhruv Kapila and Chirag Shetty then won a straight-games men’s doubles battle in 35 minutes. Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam made short work of the women’s doubles tie.
Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto, the only players to feature in two matches so far, then sealed a 5-0 win for India in the tie by clinching their mixed doubles match.
The tournament returns after three years as the 2021 edition to be held in Wuhan was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There are 17 countries that are participating in the event to be held from February 14 to 19 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre. China, Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia are the top four seeds in the tournament.
India squad Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships:
Men’s Singles: Lakshya Sen & HS Prannoy
Women’s Singles: PV Sindhu & Aakarshi Kashyap
Men’s Doubles: Dhruv Kapila / Chirag Shetty; Krishna Prasad Garga / Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala
Women’s doubles: Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand, Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam
Mixed Doubles: Ishaan Bhatnagar / Tanisha Crasto