Asia Team Championships: Lakshya stuns Jonatan but India lose 2-3 to Indonesia in semifinals
Lakshya Sen's stunning win over Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie went in vain as the Indian men's badminton team went down fighting 2-3 to two-time defending champions Indonesia in the semifinals to settle for a bronze at the Asia Team Championships here on Saturday.
World No. 31 Lakshya dished out a clinical performance to notch up a sensational 21-18 22-20 win over world no. 7 Jonatan in the second singles to keep India in the hunt after B Sai Praneeth retired following a 6-21 thrashing by Anthony Ginting in the opening game of the first singles.
Doubles pair of M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila then played their heart out before going down narrowly 10-21 21-14 21-23 to three-time world champions and second-ranked Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan as Indonesia made it 2-1.
2018 SaarLorLux Open champion Subhankar Dey then shocked world no. 20 Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 21-17 21-15 in the third singles as India once again drew level 2-2.
In the deciding second doubles, Chirag Shetty ...