Japan shine in Asia Team Championships

Hyderabad: There was a spate of one-sided results yet again on the second day of the Badminton Asia Team Championships, being played at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, on Tuesday.

Malaysia kicked off proceedings in the men’s competition by marching to a 4-1 victory over Sri Lanka. In another tie, Japan blanked Nepal 5-0.

Among women, Japan whitewashed Singapore 5-0 while Chinese Taipei defeated Sri Lanka 4-1.

Sho Sasaki was in resplendent form for the Japanese men, scoring a 21-10, 21-17 win against Ratnajit Tamang. Takuma Ueda followed that up with a 21-10, 21-17 showing against Dipesh Dhami to make it 2-0. Kenta Nishimoto then sealed tie when he outplayed Bikash Shrestha 21-13, 21-16. In two inconsequential rubbers, Hiroyuki Saeki and Ryota Taohata teamed up to defeat the Nepalese pair of Dipesh Dhami/ Ratnajit Tamang 21-5, 21-5 and then, Takeshi Kamura paired up with Keigo Sonoda to muscle past Bikash Shrestha and Nabin Shrestha in straight games 21-6, 21-14.

In the women’s section, Japan were similarly dominant against Singapore.

Sayaka Sato eased past Xiaoyu Liang in straight sets 21-17, 21-17 to give her side the all-important lead. Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi then combined well to bring down Yu Yan Vanessa Neo and Jia Ying Crystal Wong 21-10, 21-17. Yui Hashimoto then pushed the tie beyond the reach of Singapore when she beat Hui Zhen Grace Chua 21-15, 21-9.

Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao compounded Singapore’s misery when they cut down the pair of Shinta Muli Sari and Wei Han Tan 21-12, 21-15, making it 4-0.

Finally, Minatsu Mitani completed the rout when she fought back from a game down to win a three-game thriller against Jia Min Yeo 19-21, 22-20, 21-19.

In other men’s action, Chinese Taipei continued the theme of the day when they crushed the Maldives 5-0 and Indonesia brushed aside Thailand 4-1. Among women, Korea thrashed the Maldives 5-0 and Malaysia edged past Hong Kong 3-2.