This story is from February 15, 2020

Badminton Asia Team Championships: Lakshya Sen stuns Asiad champion as India give mighty scare to Indonesia

India gave a mighty scare before losing 2-3 to defending champions Indonesia at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Manila on Saturday. With this loss India settled for bronze along with Japan.
Badminton Asia Team Championships: Lakshya Sen stuns Asiad champion as India give mighty scare to Indonesia
Lakshya Sen (TOI Photo)
HYDERABAD: India gave a mighty scare before losing 2-3 to defending champions Indonesia at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Manila on Saturday. With this loss India settled for bronze along with Japan.
Spurred on by the stunning victory of Lakshya Sen against world No. 7 Jonatan Christie 21-18, 22-20 India had almost defeated Indonesia in the semifinals.
The teen shuttler, who was brilliant throughout the tournament, came up with another clinical performance as he ousted the reigning Asian Games champion Christie.

The world No. 31 Indian comfortably won the first game but faced stiff opposition in the second. Trailing 15-19, Christie fought back to draw level with Lakshya at 19-19, however, the teen shuttler kept his composure and prevailed over the experienced rival to register one of the biggest victories of his career.
Earlier, Sai Praneeth retired hurt after losing the first game against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 6-21. Sai suffered a mild hamstring pull at the start of the match. "He had a mild hamstring pull at the start, so we didn't want to risk him further," said team physio Kiran Challagundla.
With the scores level at 1-1, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila gave a tough time to world No. 2 Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. The world No. 125 Indians saved four match points before losing to the reigning world champions. The doubles duo gave a good account of themselves and emerged as a promising pair with their exploits in this tournament.

Subhanker Dey, who stepped in in the absence of Kidambi Srikanth, tied the scores when he won the second point for India with a comprehensive victory against Shesha Hiren Rushtavito 21-17, 21-15.
In the deciding fifth match, India's makeshift doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Lakshya Sen proved no match to world No.1 team of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 21-6, 21-13.
In the final, Indonesia will square up against Malaysia, who thrashed Japan 3-0.
The women's final will be between Japan and Korea. While Japan drubbed Malaysia 3-0, Korea eased past Thailand 3-1.
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