The Indian team comfortably beat Slovenia 5-0 in their fourth and final Group B tie at the 2022 World Junior Mixed Team Badminton Championships on Wednesday.
India finished second in Group B with three points, having beaten Iceland, Australia and Slovenia. They only lost to group leaders China, the tournament’s most successful side with 13 titles, in their second opening day draw.
The Indian team will now play playoff matches against second-placed teams from other groups for the best possible result in the 9-16 bracket.
The mixed doubles pair of Vignesh Thathineni and Srinidhi Narianan started the day by defeating Ziga Podgoresk and Spela Alic 21-11, 21-9.
Ayush Shetty then recorded a 21-5, 21-5 win over Kevin Lin Lenarcic in the men’s singles before Nicholas Raj and Tushar Suveer tied the game with a 21-15, 21-14 victory over Anel Hac Gyorkos and Mark Korosa for men. double.
As 14-year-old Unnati Hooda rested from the encounter, Rakshita Ramraj beat Anja Jordan 21-4, 21-4 in women’s singles. Women’s doubles pair Shreya Balaji and Srindhi Narianan completed the rout with a 21-9, 21-6 win over Nika Bedic and Kim Matovic.
India will face the second-seeded team from Group A, either Indonesia or last edition’s champions Malaysia, in their next game.
The Indian team finished in 12th place in 2019 and hope to improve on that record this time around. India’s best finish in the competition was a fourth place finish in the 2008 edition.
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