Asian Games badminton final India vs China Live Score: Satwik/Chirag demolish Chinese pair in first game

China try to close in on India’s lead and reduce the deficit to two points.

Satwik goes front court to receive Liang’s serve and returns the shuttle straight towards Wang, who fails to control it and hits it wide of the court.

China take the next point. IND 18-17 CHN

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty are once again picking momentum, capitalising on every possible mistake by the Chinese pair.

India have extended their lead to five points. IND 15-10 CHN

Great camaraderie between Satwik and Chirag as we could hear Chirag saying “maar” (hit), following which Satwik sends a powerful smash. At the midway stage of the second game India lead 11-8 against China

Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang show some fight in the second game but India are still in the lead, which has been reduced to just one.

Satwik then gets a point by smashing the shuttle at Wang’s body.

However, Wang responds back with an equally powerful smash. IND 9-8 CHN

The second game is underway and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty start from where they left. They take an early 6-2 lead over the Chinese pair.

Easy work for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty as they demolish China’s Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang.

India reach the game point with scores reading 20-11, following which China take four points on the trot.

India closes the game 21-15.

After the midway mark it is Satwik, who is at the front court. The points keep coming as India have a six-point lead at the moment. IND 13-7 CHN

This is some flawless badminton by the Indian pair as Chirag Shetty smoothly moves across the court and returns the shuttle no difficulties.

Meanwhile, Satwik complements his partner very nicely. IND 11-5 CHN

The doubles action between Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty and the Chinese pair Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang is underway. It is the Indian pair, who build an early lead. IND 5-3 CHN

Lakshya Sen vs Shi Yuqi: 22-20, 14-21, 21-18

Next we have the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lock horns with Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang

Lakshya is on match point while Shi Yuqi is at 16. The Chinese saves two match points but fails to return a body smash by Lakshya from near the net. He wins the third game 21-18 and hand India a 1-0 advantage in the gold medal match.

Shi Yuqi takes Lakshya by surprise as the shuttle appeared to be going wide but the Chinese still returns it close to the net. Lakshya returns the shuttle and grabs the point with a back flip on the space available towards the other side of the court.

Lakshya is the one leading at the moment. IND 19-16 CHN

Shi Yuqi makes a service error, very rare and he too is disappointed with himself. He however, grabs the next point with a cross-court smash. Lakshya puts in the dive but it won’t matter. IND 15-16 CHN

Lakshya Sen shows promising signs as he picks four points on the trot to reduce the deficit to one point.

Lakshya then grabs another point as the scores are tied at 14-all.

Things are getting out of hands for Lakshya, as Shi continues to impress. He extends the lead to five, before sending a smash, which falls wide of the court.

The two engage in a beautiful rally before Shi takes Lakshya by surprise by a slightly slow paced smash.

IND 10-14

Beautiful touch by Lakshya near the nets as he picks a couple of points, sending reassurance in the Indian dugout.

However, it is Shi who leads at the midway stage. IND 7-11 CHN

Shi Yuqi is proving too good for Lakshya in the deciding game. He extends his lead to 10-5.

Lakshya needs to get things back together before it gets too late.

Shi Yuqi once again extends the lead, this time by three points as the scoreline reads IND 4-7 CHN.

Some instructions come from the coach, seated beside but no avail as Shi grabs another point.

Shi Yuqi starts the deciding game on a positive note, grabs the first two points, before Lakshya gets back into the groove.

Shi is still leading by an point as Lakshya forces an unforced error by the Chinese. The scores read 4-all.

Lakshya then sends the shuttle wide of the court as Shi wins the second game 21-14.

Lakshya had won the opening game 22-20.

We’ll now have a decider.

As Shi Yuqi marches towards the game point, Lakshya Sen produces a late fight. Grabs three points on the trot before Shi breaks Lakshya’s serves with a smash, slightly wide from the Indian. IND 14-20 CHN

Lakshya Sen gets three points on the trot and makes it 11-13. However, after that he hits the nets twice trying to drop the shuttle close to the net.

China, on the other hand, have extended their lead to five points. IND 11-16 CHN

Shi Yuqi picks some momentum as he grabs the next three points, and has taken a one point lead. Following which Lakshya sends the shuttle wide of the court.

Shi then grabs another point after a shot from him hits the net and drops in Lakshya’s half. IND 8-11 CHN

Lakshya Sen and Shi Yuqi are keeping the fight on as both find themselves with six points each.

Laksya then grabs the next point, following which builds a rally and secures another point with a smash. IND 8-6 CHN

The second game is underway and it is Shi, who wins the first point. But Lakshya keeps the charge and find himself on level terms with his opponent. IND 3-3 CHN

It is Lakshya who grabs the opening game. He was under some sort of pressure towards the end as Shi was the one to reach game point first, while Lakshya had 19.

Lakshya first equalised things and then went to add two more points to close the opening game 22-20.

Both Lakshya and Shi engage in neck-and-neck battle as the Indian grabs a point with a powerful cross-court smash.

Following which the Chinese takes one point after sending in a powerful smash coming straight in Lakshya Sen’s body.

Both have 19 points each at the moment.

Lakshya breaks Shi Yuqi’s serve. Uses the court to his advantage as there is a good mixture of both drop shots and smashes.

However, Shi is producing a sensational comeback as he has brought the match back into level terms. IND 16-16 CHN

An unforced error by Lakshya as he gets Shi Yuqi on the ground with a smash, which the Chinese manages to return after extending his body. Lakshya then goes for the finish but his back flip sends the shuttle crashing on the nets.

It was not needed as the Chinese was already on the ground.

Shi Yuqi has since grabbed four points on the trot. IND 15-14 CHN

Superb show by Lakshya as he build pressure on Shi by sending some powerful smashes and then takes him by surprise by dropping the shuttle near the nets.

Shi responds back equally well and grabs the next point, sending a smash across the line, which Lakshya manages to return. However, that allows Shi to drop the shuttle in the space available on the other side of the court.

IND lead 14-9 at the moment.

Lakshya Sen has made his intentions clear as he leads 11-6 at the midway stage of the opening game.

A brilliant rally between the two and it is Lakshya, who concedes. But nevertheless he returned powerful smashes by Shi Yuqi with some stylish backhands.

India are still in the lead. IND 9-5 CHN

A powerful cross-court smash by Lakshya, something that Shi Yuqi has no response to. Gets his racquet and tries to send back the shuttle with a backhand but it falls on his half of the court.

India have an early three-point lead. IND 6-3 CHN

China will serve first and it is Lakshya, who takes the first point. The two exchange a few shots, before Lakshya angles it and drops the shuttle near the net.

India are 2-0 up at the moment.

Welcome to the men’s team badminton final as Lakshya Sen kicks-off the contest against Shi Yuqi.

The players have arrived in the court, following which they greet each other.

If China appears strong, India too cannot be counted out, especially after their triumph in Thomas Cup last year.

The action gets underway shortly.

China are the defending champions.

Shi Yuqi is world no. 6

Li Shi Feng is world no. 8

Weng Hong Yang is world no. 20

Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang are the world no. 2 pair

Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi are world no. 8 pair

The last time the Indian men won a badminton medal in team championships was at the 1986 edition at Seoul. Then Lakshya Sen’s mentors Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar played a crucial role.

Today the onus will be on Lakshya, who will kick-off the action against Shi Yu Qi.

China’s men’s team defeated Japan 3-1 in the semis.

Shi Yuqi, China’s No. 1 men’s singles player at two consecutive Asiads, endured 10-21, 21-16, 21-14 loss against Kenta Nishimoto.

The Chinese pair of Young duo Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang then secured straight games (23-21, 25-23) win against Yugo Kobayashi and Takuro Hoki.

Li Shifeng then defeated Kanta Tsuneyama

Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi then wrapped the show by beating Akira Koga and Taichi Saito.

India secured a 3-2 win against South Korea in the semifinals.

The contest started with HS Prannoy beating Hyeokjin Jeon (18-21, 21-16, 21-19) in the first match.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, failed to add to India’s lead in the second match. The world no. 2 men’s doubles pair lost 21-13, 26-24 to Seungjae Seo and Minhyuk Kang, ranked fourth in the world.

Lakshya Sen then helped India restore the lead as he beat Yungyu Lee (21-7, 21-9) in the fourth match.

Korea once again got back to level terms after Arjun Madathil Ramachandran and Dhruv Kapila endured a 16-21, 11-21 defeat against Wonho Kim and Sungseunhg Na.

Kidambi Srikanth then held on to his nerves and helped India progress to the finals for the first time. He lost the opening game but produced a gritty show to topple Geonyeop Cho 12-21, 21-16, 21-14.

India will be without the service of HS Prannoy, who has been enjoying a supreme run in the recent tournaments. Reports suggest that Prannoy misses the important tie due to injury.

He had put India ahead in the semifinal tie against Korea as he beat Hyeokjin Jeon 18-21, 21-16, 21-19.

A look at the fixtures of badminton men’s team final:

Lakshya Sen vs Shi Yu Qi

Satwiksairaj/Chirag vs Liang/Wang

Kidambi Srikanth vs Li She Feng

Dhruv/Pratheek vs Liu/Ou

Mithun Manjunath vs Weng Hong Yang

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of India vs China men’s badminton final action, where Team India fights for a historic gold. The action gets underway at 2:30 pm. Stay tuned for all the updates on the match!