Indian men keep hope alive for first-ever team gold in badminton

HANGZHOU: Kidambi Srikanth rallied his way to a thrilling win in a tense decider as India kept alive their hopes of winning a first-ever gold medal at the Asian Games, reaching the men's team championships final with a 3-2 win over South Korea in Hang-zhou on Saturday.

World No. 7 HS Prannoy showed nerves of steel to bounce back from an opening game reversal to outwit Jeon Hyeok Jin 18-21 21-16 21-19 and put India 1-0 ahead but Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost the first doubles 13-21 24-26 to reign-ing world champions Seo Seung-Jae and Kang Min-hyuk as Korea made it 1-1.

Lakshya Sen then put up a dominating show in the second singles to bring India back in business with a clinical 21-7 21-9 win over Lee Yungyu but MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost 16-21 11-21 to Kim Wonho and NA Sungseung in the second doubles as the two teams found themselves on level terms once again.

Srikanth, a 2021 World Championships silver medallist, then fought his way under pressure to struggle past world no. 163 Cho Geonyeop 12-21 21-16 21-14 and seal India's place in the summit clash at the BJ Gymnasium.

India will look to live up to their Thomas Cup champions tag when they face multiple-time gold medallist China in the final on Sunday. IANS

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