India cruise past Sri Lanka to enter knock-outs at World Junior Badminton

India cruised to a 45-27, 45-21 win over Sri Lanka to advance towards the knock-outs at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Guwahati, while the Philippines stunned Hong Kong in a tight Group F match to record a historic win

Hyderabad: Hosts India continued their march to the knock-out stages of the mixed team championships with yet another clinical performance in their Group H clash against Sri Lanka, while the Philippines upset Hong Kong in a thrilling Group F clash on the second day of the Yonex Sunrise BWF World Junior Badminton Championships for the Suhandinata Cup at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati on Tuesday.

India, favourites to advance to the knock-out stage as group toppers, lived up to expectations to register a 45-27, 45-21 win over Sri Lanka, who had beaten the United Arab Emirates in a thriller on Monday.

---

Among the other top nations, 14-time champions China and former champions South Korea registered their second wins in their respective groups, while the Philippines upset Hong Kong 42-45, 45-28, 45-43.

China, playing in Group D, defeated England 45-22, 45-19, while South Korea hammered debutant Bhutan 45-5, 45-17 in Group G.

Playing on the adjacent court to the Koreans, the Indian team hardly broke any sweat despite the team management fielding a fresh bunch of players who had not got a chance to play in the match against Nepal on Monday in the opening set.

Lalthazuala Hmar gave the team a confident start, beating Keneth Aruggoda 9-2 in the boys’ singles match, and Bhavya Chhabra and Mithileish P Krishnan extended the lead to 18-6 against Sanuda Ariyasinghe and Thisath Rupathunga.

It was only girls’ singles player Rakshitha Sree, who was playing the team relay-scoring format for the first time, struggled to get going against Ranithma Liyanage and was trailing 3-8 before winning six of the next seven points to take the score to 36-21.

Junior Grand Prix finalist in Pune, C Lalramsanga, and Taarini Suri then wrapped up the set 45-27, beating Aruggoda and Liyanage 9-6.

Rounak Chouhan started the proceedings for India in the second set, and though the hosts played a completely fresh line-up, the outcome was similar as they wrapped up the tie with a 45-21 win in the second set.

The Philippines then glued the fans to their seats as Jamal Pandi played the starring role in singles, doubles and mixed doubles to help the team register their biggest victory in the history of the competition.