Badminton Asia Team Championships: No quarter given

Hyderabad: Hosts India booked themselves a spot in the quarterfinals of both the men’s and women’s competitions at the Badminton Asia Team Championships being played at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, on Wednesday.

The men’s side annihilated Singapore 5-0 while the women followed that up with a 5-0 win, also over Singapore.

When the day dawned, India needed just one win to advance to the last eight stage, as Singapore had lost both of their opening ties. And the hosts, playing with ruthless efficiency, didn’t disappoint. They won all 10 of their matches to comprehensively shut the door on Singaporean hopes.

Playing in the evening, P.V. Sindhu, P.C. Thulasi, G. Ruthvika Shivani, Jwala Gutta/ Ashwini Ponnappa and Sindhu/ Sikki Reddy claimed victory in their respective matches. Sindhu defeated Xiaoyu Liang 21-17, 21-11; Thulasi thumped Hui Zhen Grace Chua 21-16, 21-7 and Shivani beat Jia Min Yeo 21-4, 21-11.

Though the remaining two matches were but a mere formality, Jwala Gutta/ Ashwini Ponnappa downed Shinta Mulia Sari/ Wei Han Tan 21-18, 21-16 and Sindhu/ Sikki thrashed Jia Ying Crystal Wong and Jia Min Yeo 21-8, 21-14.
Earlier in the day, In the men’s section, World No.9 Srikanth kicked things off with a hard-fought three-game victory against Zi Liang Derek Wong and his teammates followed suit, winning the remaining four matches in straight games