Badminton Asia Junior Championships: India knocked out by Hong Kong in thrilling quarterfinal relay tie

India’s campaign at the Badminton Asia Junior Mixed Team Championships ended in the quarterfinals with a loss to Hong Kong. Despite holding early leads in the unique 110-point relay format, a late doubles collapse sealed India's exit in Japan

Yatsushiro (Japan): India’s campaign in the Badminton Asia Junior Mixed team championships came to an end at the quarterfinal stage as they went down against Hong Kong 2-1 here on Monday.

India started strong in the opening set with Dev Ruparelia and Tanvi Patri giving the team a strong start as India led 22-12 after two matches. The doubles combinations then ensured that there were no hiccups as they clinched the set 55-44.

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But the start of the second game turned things around for Hong Kong as Can Yee Hei beat Ruparelia 11-8 and IP Sum Yau extended their lead to 22-16. The doubles combinations could not cut down the deficit as the match went into a decider.

Ruparelia once again gave India a lead by beating Chan 11-9, but Ip managed to close the gap to 22-21.

The mixed doubles combination of Bjorn Jaison and Dianka Waldia kept India ahead with a 33-32 as the match against Cheung Sai Shing and Wing Chi Chu ended 11-11.

Tanvi Reddy Andluri and Baruni Parshwal went down to Chu and Yi Kiu Yu 5-11 and India could not recover from that and lost the set 55-43.

The 26th edition of the junior continental badminton championships will be held in two parts – the team event from June 26 to 30 and individual events from July 1 to 5.

The team event adopted a relay format, with the first side to reach 110 points declared the winner. The individual events will begin after the conclusion of the mixed team competition.

India’s challenge at the 2026 Badminton Asia Junior Championships was spearheaded by the duo of Tanvi Patri and Abhinav Garg who will feature in the 19-member Indian squad for the championship.