India walloped Macao 5-0 in the South Asian team’s group opener of this year’s Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships, held in Qingdao, Shandong Province, on Wednesday – following the SAR’s defeat by South Korea on Tuesday.
The Indian team, which earned bronze in the championships’ last iteration in 2023, is set to face two-time runner-up South Korea today. The two countries’ teams made up the four-group tournament’s Group D, along with Macao.
The two best performing teams from each group will move forward into the quarter-finals on Friday.
[See more: Gao Fangjie and Ng Ka Long win gold at the Macau Open Badminton Championships]
Wednesday’s first match saw 86th-ranked mixed doubles team Leong Iok Chong and Ng Weng Chi defeated 21-10, 21-9. Then, in the men’s singles, Pui Pang Fong lost 21-16, 21-12, while 16-year-old Hao Wai Chan lost 21-15, 21-9 in the women’s singles.
In the men’s doubles, Pui Chi Chon and Vong Kok Weng were defeated 21-15, 21-9. India’s clean-sweep was finalised in the women’s doubles, where Ng Weng Chi and Pui Chi Wa lost 21-10, 21-5.
The semi-finals of the championships are scheduled for this Saturday and the finals will take place on Sunday.
