The Singaporean men’s and women’s teams suffered two consecutive losses in the group stage at the Asian Badminton Team Championships held in Qingdao, China on Wednesday (February 4). They were both at the bottom of the group and missed the quarterfinals. Although the men’s singles Luo Jianyou and the men’s doubles Ni Zujie/Huang Jinteng performed well, the Chinese men’s team ultimately lost to India 2-3.
Luo Jianyou, my country’s top men’s singles player, took the lead in Group C of the men’s team. Although the 10th-ranked player in the world faced the 12th-ranked Indian player Rasiya Sen and did not have a superior head-to-head record, he still won the game 21-16, 19-21, 21-16 after more than an hour of fierce battle, scoring the first point for the team.
Luo Jianyou was at the disadvantage in three wins and seven losses in the previous 10 matches. The last time he defeated Lasiya was in the 2023 Malaysian Masters.
Regarding this victory, Luo Jianyou said in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao: “I did not participate in the Thailand Masters and took the opportunity to take a short break. At the same time, I spent time with my family in Penang and maintained training. Facing Laksiya, I was fully prepared and focused on every point during the game.”
Another point for my country came from the unranked second doubles team of Ni Zujie/Huang Jinteng. They fought fiercely with the world’s 49th-ranked Pluthvi/Platek for three games and completed a great comeback with 8-21, 23-21, 22-20.
Further reading
my country’s men’s and women’s teams missed a good start on the first day of the Badminton Asian Team Championships
The Badminton Asian Team Championship starts on Tuesday, Yang Jiamin’s first game back from injury
Joey Nee recently completed two years of national service. He and his former partner Wu Zhonghan once ranked No. 1 in the youth world rankings. Wu Zhonghan is not expected to complete his national service until June.
Although Ni Zujie/Huang Jinteng chased the score to 2-2, my country’s last appearance in the world’s 155th men’s singles Xu Jiawei lost to the world’s 34th Srikanth 15-21, 16-21. my country ultimately ranked last among the three teams in the group.
In the other two games, my country’s men’s doubles team No. 48 Kubo Junsuke/Gao Yongjie lost to the world’s fifth “twin tower combination” Reddy/Shetty 10-21, 8-21; world No. 32 Zheng Jiaheng lost to world No. 25 Ayush Shetty 17-21, 15-21.
Chinese Taipei’s strong women’s team lost 0-5
On the other hand, the Chinese women’s team defeated Chinese Taipei 0-5 in the women’s team Z group match that ended in the morning and was unable to win a game from a powerful opponent.
Yang Jiamin, my country’s number one women’s singles player, who has just recovered from injury and has not yet fully recovered, did not play. Noor Insriya, ranked 148th in the world, served as the first singles player and lost to Qiu Pinxi, ranked 14th in the world, 12-21, 12-21.
Kim Yuja/Wang Xiaoen, ranked 161st in the world, lost to Xu Yinjuan/Lin Zhiyun, ranked 14th in the world, 13-21, 14-21; Li Xinyi, ranked 151st in the world, lost to Lin Xiangti, ranked 20th in the world, 11-21, 10-21; Li Zhengyan/Zheng Yi, who was not ranked in the world, lost to Zhang Jinghui/Yang Jingdun, ranked 20th in the world, 12-21, 9-21.
Xu Yuxin (No. 188 in the world), who appeared last, lost to Michelle Hsu (No. 40 in the world) 15-21, 6-21.
my country’s badminton singles head coach Kim Chi-hyun said: “Nur Insriya, Lee Hsin-yi and Hsu Yu-xin went all out against the strong Chinese Taipei lineup today. They kept running, flying to save the ball, and gave their best in the game. I admire the fighting spirit they showed. Next, they still need to continue to improve in terms of overall physical fitness, stability and hitting accuracy.”
According to the competition system, only the top two teams in the group can advance to the quarterfinals. Both the Chinese men’s and women’s teams have suffered two consecutive losses in the three-team group and have no hope of qualifying.
South Korea and Chinese Taipei also have a victory in Group Z, and the battle for the top spot in the group will begin on Thursday (5th). In Group C of the men’s team, Japan and India each have a win, and there will also be a showdown for the top spot in the group on Thursday.
