Tough Day for the Top Seed
Japan is seeded as the main candidate for the champion in the women’s team of the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2022.
However, Japan experiences a defeat on their first appearance. On Tuesday (15/2/2022), Japan was defeated by Malaysia with a score of 2-3 in a Group Y match held in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. In fact, Japan is on the verge of claiming victory in this match.
The land of Sakura, Japan's nickname, is already 2-0 up. The point donation was given by Natsuki Nidaira in Riko Gunji's first and second singles. Natsuki Nidaira defeated Kisona Selvaduray 21-12, 21-16. In terms of ranking, Kisona actually has a better rating. The 23-year-old woman is ranked 64th in the world. While Natsuki Nidaira is below him, ranked 72.
Natsuki's victory was followed by Riko Gunji, who is ranked 181st in the world. She later won 21-17, 21-7 over Eoon Qi Xuan, who is ranked 126th. However, this advantage failed to be maintained. In the previous three rounds, Japan failed to win. Hina Akechi, Riu Hirokami/Yuna Kato, and Hina Akechi/Riko Gunji.
Hina, who is still only 16 years old, suffered a 16-21, 20-22 defeat to Malaysia's third singles player, Siti Nurshuhaini, a 17-year-old woman who is ranked 309th. This victory made the host country open their chances of reversing the position.
This opportunity was not wasted, Valeree Siow/Pearly Tan, who is in Malaysia's first doubles and sits at 91st in the world, was able to equalize after defeating Japanese doubles pair, Rui Hitokami/Yuna Kato, who are both 19 years old and currently in the top rankings of 656th. The pair won the game with the score of 24-22, 21-18. Malaysia's victory was decided by Anna Ching Yik Cheong/Teoh Mei Xing, who stopped Hina Akechi/Riko Gunji, who both played singles and doubles, 21-12, 21-5 in 27 minutes of easy play. Apart from Malaysia and Japan, Group Y is also filled with India.
While in the other group or Group Z, Indonesia and South Korea both won. Indonesia beat Hong Kong China 4-1 while the Ginseng Country, a nickname of South Korea, won perfectly 5-0 over Kazakhstan.
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