BATC 2026 Heartbreak: Men Lose To Korea, Women Miss Out On Title Defence

Last Updated:February 06, 2026, 19:31 IST

India's title defence ends as women's team loses 0-3 to China and men's team falls 1-3 to Korea at Badminton Asia Team Championships.

India’s title defence in the women’s team event ended in disappointment with a 0-3 defeat to a second-string China, while the men’s team suffered a 1-3 loss to Korea in the quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Team Championships on Friday.

The Indian women had claimed a historic gold medal in the previous edition in 2024, but the absence of the talismanic PV Sindhu due to a niggle made defending the title a tough task.

World No. 42 Tanvi Sharma, who had led the charge in the opening singles with two wins earlier in the tournament, failed to provide a positive start, losing 9-21, 9-21 to world No. 10 Gao Fang Jie in a lopsided opener.

The 17-year-old Tanvi, a world junior championships silver medallist, struggled to match the pace and power of the Chinese shuttler throughout the contest.

The doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly then put up a spirited fight before going down 22-24, 18-21 to the world No. 4 combination of Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian, as China took a decisive 2-0 lead.

The Indian pair fought back from 10-16 down in the opening game to draw level, but couldn’t convert, losing the first game.

In the second game, Treesa and Gayatri held a 13-10 lead before conceding a run of points, allowing the Chinese pair to regain control and close out the match.

Facing a do-or-die situation, Rakshitha Ramraj battled hard against Xu Wen Jing in the second singles but eventually lost 14-21, 21-15, 17-21 in a 69-minute contest.

Men hurt by absence of Lakshya, Satwik

Later in the day, the men’s team, sans Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, was no match for Korea.

India opted not to field top singles player Lakshya, who was carrying some pain in his back. He didn’t feature in India’s previous tie against Japan and had earlier lost to Loh Kean Yew during the group-stage encounter against Singapore.

In his absence, Ayush Shetty took on world No. 74 Yoo Tae Bin in the opening men’s singles.

Ayush squandered three match points, then saved three match points thrice in the decider. He again earned one again at 25-24, only to let it slip in the end in the 84-minute clash as India fell 0-1 behind.

In the first doubles, India missed Satwiksairaj, who returned home to attend his father’s first death anniversary. In his absence, Chirag Shetty partnered Hariharan Amsakarunan, but they succumbed 11-21, 13-21 against Song Hyun Cho and Kim Won Ho.

Former world championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth then took the onus on himself and bagged a 21-15, 21-16 victory over world No. 109 Choi Ji Hoon in the second singles to give India a glimmer of hope.

However, it was all over when Pruthvi Krishnan and K Sai Pratheek suffered an 11-21, 16-21 defeat to Jin Yong and Ki Dong Ju in the second doubles.

Ayush vs Tae Bin

Ayush, the US Open champion, did well to erase a 4-7 deficit and break away at 15-15 to pocket the opening game.

However, the Indian could not rein in his errors after the change of sides and slipped from 5-5 to 7-11.

Tae Bin looked sharp with his deep smashes, breaking away from 14-13 to roar back into the contest.

Back on the winning side, Ayush managed to open up a slender 11-9 lead at the interval in the decider.

Tae Bin made Ayush work hard for every point as he caught up at 11-all. The duo moved to 14-14 and 17-all.

Tae Bin started committing errors, including two shots into the net. A stiff down-the-line smash earned Ayush three match points, but he smashed out to concede one.

Tae Bin made it 20-20 after peppering Ayush’s backhand. Another thunderous smash handed Korea the advantage before Ayush kept it alive with a cross smash.

Tae Bin again moved ahead at 22-21 after forcing Ayush from back to front with his placement. Another smash levelled the scores at 22-22.

The match swung again when an onrushing Tae Bin put one deep, before Ayush won a net duel to make it 23-all.

The Indian grabbed another match point with a deft lob over his opponent’s head during a fine rally.

It was 24-24 when Tae Bin sent one across, leaving Ayush stranded. The Indian then smashed into the net to hand match point to his opponent, and this time Tae Bin made no mistake, sealing the contest with a smash.

(With PTI Inputs)

News sports badminton BATC 2026 Heartbreak: Men Lose To Korea, Women Miss Out On Title Defence

Read More