Host China won Group W of the Women’s Division Badminton Asia Team Championships 2026 after beating Malaysia 4-1 as India made a fine start to their title defence at the Qingdao Conson Gymnasium.
China, the inaugural winner in 2016, survived some tough resistance from the Malaysians before racing to the 3-0 lead through Han Qian Xi in the Women’s Singles; Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian in the Women’s Doubles and then Xu Wen Jing in the second Women’s Singles.
Even though Low Zi Yi-Noraqilah Maisarah managed to win Malaysia the point in the second Women’s Doubles tie, there was no stopping China from winning the game when Yuan An Qi took victory in the final match of the third Women’s Singles.
In the meantime, India made a fine start to their title defence when they crushed Myanmar 5-0 in their first game of Group Y which also has Thailand for company.
17-year-old Tanvi Sharma, who was part of the Indian squad that won the title two years ago in Malaysia, took just over half an hour to beat Thet Htar Thuzar 21-13, 21-16.
With the pace set, India never looked back from then on as they picked up the rest of the points with ease to hand Myanmar their second loss of the group.
On the other hand, Indonesia was involved in a long-drawn battle against Hong Kong in Group X before surging to win 4-1.
2022 champions Indonesia did not get the start they wanted when Happy Lo took the first Women’s Singles 23-21, 21-19 for the first point in the series.
However, Indonesia did not blink in the duel that took more than three hours to complete when Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo made sure of the win in the third Women’s Singles.
In the meantime, Chinese Taipei scorched past Singapore 5-0 to set up the crucial clash in Group Z tomorrow.
Insyirah Khan once again puts up an inspiring performance in her Women’s Singles tie but would find it hard-going against world No. 14 Chiu Pin-Chian when the latter walked off 21-12, 21-12 winner.
The win gave Chinese Taipei just the confidence they needed to pick up the commanding win as they look to play Korea tomorrow.
