Asia C'ships: Lakshya stuns Christie but India lose 3-2 in semis

Manila, Feb 15 (IANS) The Indian men's badminton team on Saturday settled for a bronze at the Badminton Asia Team Championships after losing a closely fought semi-final against defending champions Indonesia in Manila. Indonesia, who have won the previous two titles, won the tie 3-2 to advance to the final where they will face Malaysia on Sunday.

India were without former world no.1 Kidambi Srikanth or HS Prannoy going into the match with the pair leaving for the Spain Masters. World Championship bronze medallist Sai Praneeth had to retire midway through the opening match against Anthony Ginting, thus giving Indonesia a 1-0 lead.

However, 18-year-old Lakshya Sen continued his good form in the tournament by beating world no.7 Jonathan Christie 21-18, 22-20. He thus ends the tournament with a 100 percent win record.

MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila then lost 10-21, 21-14, 21-23 to Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan but Shubhankar Dey brought India back on level terms with a 21-17, 21-15 win over Shesar Hiren Rhustavito.

In the decisive fifth match, Lakshya teamed up with Chirag Shetty against Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo. The Indian pair however failed to provide much challenge and lost 6-21, 13-21 in 24 minutes.