The fourth edition of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship was held from February 11 to 16 at the Conson Gymnasium in Qingdao, China. Badminton Asia started this tournament in 2017 to find out the best national mixed team in Asia and since then it has been the only mixed team event in this sport.
Japan won the title in its first edition following China’s double title win in 2019 and 2023. In 2021, the team event was dismissed due to the global pandemic. On its return in 2023, India won their first ever medal at BAMTC as they settled for bronze after their loss against China alongside Thailand.
A total of 12 teams, including badminton powerhouses like China, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, participated in this mixed team event. All the teams were divided into four groups for the round-robin format of play. In this format, each team plays others in their group once, and the top two teams of each group qualify for the quarter-finals. India was in group D alongside Macau and South Korea.
The 13-member India squad consisted of star players like Lakshya Sen and H. S. Prannoy in men’s singles, and Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in men’s doubles. After double Olympic medalist P.V. Sindhu’s last-minute withdrawal from the event, 23-year-old Malvika Bansod stepped up to take on the challenge in women’s singles.
India started their campaign dominantly after defeating Macau 5-0 in the first match and ensuring a spot in the quarter-finals. But, suffered a narrow loss against South Korea by 2-3.
India faced a thrashing 3-0 defeat in their quarterfinal tie against Japan. In the first match, mixed doubles pair Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto fought hard against the world no. 12 Hiroki and Natsu in a three-set match. But it was Japan who won the contest by 21-13, 17-21, 21-13.
Young Malvika showcased a strong fight in the second set of the second match, but couldn’t breach the battle against the 8th-ranked Tomoka Miyazaki and went down for 21-12, 21-19.
The fans had expected a turnaround from the veteran shuttler H.S. Prannoy, but the 32-year-old came up short in an hour-long match against star player Kenta Nishimoto by 14-21, 21-15, 12-21.
With this, India’s journey in this mixed team event came to an end, leaving the disheartened fans hopeful for a stronger comeback in upcoming tournaments.The star Indian shuttlers will next feature in the German Open 2025 starting from 25th February.
This edition of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships also served as the qualifier for the prestigious Sudirman Cup. All four semifinalists of this event- Indonesia, China, Japan, and Thailand, have booked a place in the Sudirman Cup which will take place later this year.
Indonesia etched its name in history to win their maiden BAMTC title by defeating the host and defending champions China 3-1 in the 2025 edition.
