Anna 
India’s mixed badminton team was narrowly defeated by South Korea 3-2 in the final group match of the Badminton Asian Mixed Team Championships in Qingdao, Shandong, China, on Thursday. Despite a spirited comeback, India ultimately fell short, with the tie concluding in favor of the South Koreans.
The match began with mixed doubles action, where India’s Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto faced off against the Korean duo of Dong Ju Kl and Na Eun Jeong. After losing the first game, the Indian pair battled hard but were unable to overcome the Koreans, who won the match in three games (11-21, 21-12, 21-15), giving South Korea an early 1-0 lead.
Sim Yu Jin extended South Korea’s advantage, cruising past India’s Malvika Bansod in women’s singles with a dominant 21-9, 21-10 victory, putting Korea ahead 2-0.
India’s hopes of a comeback were reignited when Sathish Kumar Karunakaran triumphed over Korea’s Geonyeop Cho in a hard-fought men’s singles match, securing India’s first point of the tie.
In the fourth match, the Indian women’s doubles pairing of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand levelled the tie. Despite a challenging first game, they recovered to defeat the Korean pair of Kim Min Ji and Kim Yu Jung in three games, 19-21, 21-16, 21-11, making it 2-2.
The outcome of the tie hinged on the final match—the men’s doubles contest. India fielded a new pairing of Satwik Sairaj Arankireddy and MR Arjun, but the decision proved costly. The Korean duo of Jin Yong and Na Sung Seung won the match in straight games, 21-14, 25-23, sealing a 3-2 victory for South Korea.
Despite the loss, India advanced to the knockout stages as the second-best team in Group D.
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