India’s junior mixed badminton team has been knocked out of the Asia Junior Mixed Team Championship. The mixed team lost to Japan 104-110 in the quarter-finals played in Solo, Indonesia on Monday. The match was played under the relay scoring system, in which points for each match are added. At the beginning of the match, India lost the first game 9-11, but after that the Indian players made a great comeback. Men’s doubles pair Bhagav Ram Arigella and Vishwa Tej Gobburu gave India the first point.
Vimes’ doubles pair of Vennala Kalagotla and Reshika Uthaysuriyan then gave India a 33-26 lead. After that, the pair of Reshika and Bhavya Chhabra maintained India’s lead to 44-35. Raunak Chauhan also played brilliantly and strengthened India’s lead. India led for most of the match but 2023 champions Japan turned the tables by winning the last five matches in a row.
The tournament is being played in a 110-point relay scoring format, in which teams have to score 110 points in 10 matches. India’s best performance in this tournament was in 2011, when it won the bronze medal. Last year, India was eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing 2-3 to Malaysia.In this tournament, 17 teams are divided into four groups. Three groups have three teams each and one group has five teams. The top two teams of each group reach the quarter finals. Both the teams losing in the semi-finals are given bronze medals.