India men’s badminton team confirms first medal finish after 37 years

India will play the winner of the quarterfinal fixture between Indonesia and Korea.

FILE PHOTO: Lakshya Sen during a practice session. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL/THE HINDU

The Indian men’s badminton team on Friday confirmed a medal finish, beating Nepal 3-0 in the quarterfinal at the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou.

The team had last won a medal—bronze—at the continental event in Seoul 1986, when Syed Modi and Prakash Padukone were still a part of the team.

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Lakshya Sen played the first match of the quarters against Prince Dahal, beating the latter 21-5, 21-8, in straight games.

In the second fixture, Kidambi Srikanth, having taken out Sunil Joshi 21-4 in Game 1, seemed to have lost the plot a bit in the second game but quickly recovered to finish 21-13.

The final encounter saw Mithun Manjunath romp home in 25 minutes, thrashing Bishnu Katuwal 21-2, 21-7.

India will play the winner of the quarterfinal fixture between Indonesia and Korea.