Indian men made history by entering the final of the team event for the first time in the Asian Games.
Thomas Cup champions India downed South Korea 3-2 to set up a summit clash with China on Sunday. The hosts downed Japan 3-1 in the other semifinal.
HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth won their matches on Saturday to put India in the final. The two doubles teams suffered losses, however. PV Sindhu was the last Indian to reach the final in Jakarta in 2018.
Prannoy made a splendid comeback to beat Jeon Hyeok Jin 18-21, 21-16, 21-19. Ranked 40 rungs behind the world No. 7 Indian, Jeon gave a good account of himself in the first game. Though Prannoy won the second game, he lost momentum in the third. He started with a 5-1 lead before Jeon made it 11-6. Prannoy caught up with his rival at 16-16 before winning the first point for India.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag disappointed in their 13-21, 24-26 defeat to world champions Seo Seung Jae and Kang Min Hyuk. Despite the strong fight, the Indians made too many errors in the second game.
In-form Sen was dominant in his 21-7, 21-9 win over Lee Yung Yu. The makeshift doubles combination of Kim Won Ho and NA Sung Seung made it 2-2 for Korea when they defeated MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila 21-16, 21-11.
All eyes were on Srikanth in the decider. The former world No. 1 was made to work hard by world No. 163 Cho Geonyeop in the first game, which he lost 12-21. He won the second 21-16 and struggled in the final game. But up 11-9 at the break, he used his experience to win points near the net and sealed a brilliant victory for India.
Chief coach Pullela Gopichand was full of praise for Lakshya. "Lakshya played brilliantly while Prannoy and Srikanth worked hard. It's a memorable day for Indian badminton," Gopichand said. "We need to win at least two singles and a doubles match," Gopichand said of the final against China.
South Korea women will face China in the gold medal match.
