Solo (Indonesia), July 18: India notched up a 110-69 win over Sri Lanka in their Group D clash to kick off their campaign on a positive note at the Badminton Asia Junior Mixed Team championships here on Friday.
The mixed doubles combination of Vishnu Kode and Reshika U began India’s march with an 11-5 win over Keneth Aruggoda and Isuri Attanayake in the relay point system where a team had to bag 110 points to win the match.
Sisters Gayatri and Mansa Rawat then extended India’s lead to 22-14 against Attanayake and Sithumi De Silva before junior world no. 1 Tanvi Sharma stamped her class against Sithuli Ranasinghe to make it 33-21 for India.
Not one India singles player or pair lost any 11-point relay and by the time the match reached the halfway mark, the winners had taken a 55-31 lead.
India will now face United Arab Emirates in their second group game on Saturday before taking on Hong Kong China on Sunday which could decide who tops the group standings.
India achieved their best result in the mixed team event back in 2011, clinching a bronze medal. Last year, India fell short of a medal after losing 2-3 to Malaysia in the quarter-finals.
The tournament features 17 teams divided into four groups – three groups have three teams each, while one group has five teams. Each team plays every other team in their group once, with the top two from each group advancing to the quarter-finals.
This year’s championships adopted a 110-point relay system. Each tie consists of 10 matches (two each in men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles) with the team reaching 110 points first declared the winner.
There is no playoff for third place; both losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze medals. (PTI)
