Asian Games: Satwik-Chirag win not enough as India lose men's badminton SF

Lakshya Sen

India's men's badminton team settled for a bronze medal at the Asian Games at Aichi-Nagoya after losing 3-1 to China in the semifinal on Wednesday.The result gave India only its second-ever Asian Games medal in the men's team event.

China took an early lead after Shi Yu Qi defeated Lakshya Sen in straight games in the opening singles match.India hit back through the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who beat China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20 to level the tie at 1-1. The Indian pair defeated the reigning World Championship gold medallists to keep India in the contest.

China regained the lead when Li Shifeng defeated Ayush Shetty 21-19, 21-13 in the second singles match, making it 2-1.Asian Games full coverage | Schedule | Medal tallyIndia needed a win in the fourth match to stay alive, but the doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun lost 21-16, 17-21, 21-9. The Indian duo fought back to win the second game after losing the opener, but the Chinese pair dominated the decider to seal the tie and send China into the final.Nevertheless, it was a creditable result for the Indian men's team as they secured back-to-back Asian Games team medals for the first time in 40 years, following the bronze medals won in the 1982 and 1986 editions.