New Delhi: India on Wednesday extended it’s unbeaten run in the BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships 2017 after they outplayed Sweden 3-2 in the final group encounter and made it to the quarter-finals of the tournament held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Without dropping a single match, India had went past USA, Hungary and Australia prior to this game and they would undoubtedly be one of the strong contenders for the title.
Fifth seeded India began with the proceedings in emphatic fashion as the mixed doubles team of Dhruv Kapila and Mithula UK defeated Carl Harrbacka and Tilda Sjoo in a 40-minute contest.
In the men’s singles category, Laqshya Sen, who is currently ranked no 2 in the world rankings proved as to why he is so highly rated as he hammered Clin Hammarberg 21-11, 21-9 in 26 minutes to help India gain a 2-0 lead. Ashmita Chaliha beat Ashwati Pillai 21-8, 21-14 in the women’s singles category to give India an unassailable 3-0 lead in the competition.
With such dominant performances, India looked good to clinch another sweep but Krishna Prasad and Dhruv Kapila lost to the pair of Adam Gozzi and Carl Harbacka 21-17, 22-20, 21-16 in the men’s doubles category. Also, the pair of Rutaparna Panda and Mithula UK were defeated by Ashwati Pillai and Tilda Sjoo 24-22, 21-17 in the women’s doubles category.
Although these two losses ended India’s unbeaten record in the league stages, the team still moved to the top of the table.
Sanjay Mishra, the head coach of the Indian junior team said, “I am extremely pleased with the performance of the squad. The players have been at the top of their form and I am quite sure that we maintain our current form, we will go deep into the tournament.”
“The players have been asked to stay grounded and not get very excited. We are making sure that the players do not get distracted by anything and are fully focused for the game tomorrow,” he also added.
India would next face Malasyia in the quarter-finals on Friday.