By Admin 
Indonesia took the shine off India’s historic first-ever medal at the World junior mixed team badminton championships as the defending champion beat the host 45-35, 45-21 in the semifinals here on Friday.
In the second semifinal, 14-time winner China survived a scare to beat Japan 45-42, 38-45, 45-42 and set up a rematch of last year’s summit clash.
After confirming at least a bronze courtesy a comeback win over two-time champion Korea in the quarterfinals, the Indian juniors could not be blamed for aiming higher and upsetting Indonesia.
The vociferous home crowd, sparse at best in capacity, backed India to the hilt but on the court at the National Center of Excellence, it was Indonesia making all the noise.
India needed Unnati Hooda to provide a considerable cushion from her singles matches to make up for Indonesia’s superiority in doubles. Once that didn’t materialise, it was always going to be a tall ask for the rest of the squad.
Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu bagged the opening boys’ doubles fixture 9-6. Unnati kept India 18-16 ahead in the first set after facing Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan in the battle between two of the world’s Top-10 juniors.
That two-point lead vanished in no time.
Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah, the top-ranked male junior, dominated Rounak Chouhan with his movement and deft touches at the net.
Down 23-27, C. Lalramsanga and Vishakha Toppo fought back in mixed doubles to restore parity at 33-33. Lalramsanga, a talented doubles prospect from Mizoram, troubled Ikhsan Lintang Pramudya and Rinjani Kwinnara Nastine with his speed and court craft. However, that brief comeback turned out to be a flickering flame of hope which was soon distinguished as the visitor bossed the rest of the proceedings, conceding only 23 points in the next six matches.
The individual championships will be held at the same venue from October 13 to 19.
The results: Semifinal 1: Indonesia bt. India 45-35, 45-21
Set 1 : Match 1 (Boys’ Doubles): Muhammad Rizki Mubarrok/Raihan Daffa Edsel Pramono 6-9 Bhargav Ram Arigela/Viswa Tej Gobburu
Match 2 (Girl’s Singles): Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan 16-18 Unnati Hooda
Match 3 (Boy’s Singles): Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah 27-23 Rounak Chouhan
Match 4 (Mixed Doubles): Ikhsan Lintang Pramudya/Rinjani Kwinnara Nastine 36-33 C Lalramsanga/Vishakha Toppo
Match 5 (Girls’ Doubles): Riska Anggraini/Rinjani Kwinnara Nastine 45-35 Vennala Kalagotla/Reshika Uthayasooriyan
Set 2: Match 1 (Boys’ Doubles): Raihan Daffa Edsel Pramono/Alexius Ongkytama Subagio 9-2 Bhargav Ram Arigela/Viswa Tej Gobburu
Match 2 (Girl’s Singles): Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan 18-8 Unnati Hooda
Match 3 (Boy’s Singles): Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah 27-15 Rounak Chouhan
Match 4 (Mixed Doubles): Ikhsan Lintang Pramudya/Rinjani Kwinnara Nastine 36-19 C Lalramsanga/Vishakha Toppo
Match 5 (Girls’ Doubles): Riska Anggraini/Rinjani Kwinnara Nastine 45-21 Aanya Bisht/Angel Punera
Semifinal 2: China bt. Japan 45-42, 38-45, 45-42
Set 1 : Match 1 (Girl’s Singles): Xu Wen Jing 5-9 Yuzuno Watanabe
Match 2 (Boy’s Singles): Xiao Gao Bo 14-18 Hyuga Takano
Match 3 (Mixed Doubles): Chen Jun Ting/Cao Zi Han 27-26 Shuji Sawada/Aoi Banno
Match 4 (Girls’ Doubles): Cao Zi Han/Chen Fan Shu Tian 36-28 Meisa Anami/Himeka Hashimura
Match 5 (Boys’ Doubles): Chen Jun Ting/Liu Jun Rong 45-42 Kazuma Kawano/Shuji Sawada
Set 2
Match 1 (Girl’s Singles): Xu Wen Jing 6-9 Yuzuno Watanabe
Match 2 (Boy’s Singles): Liu Yang Ming Yu 16-18 Kazuma Kawano
Match 3 (Mixed Doubles): Chen Jun Ting/Cao Zi Han 25-27 Shuji Sawada/Aoi Banno
Match 4 (Girls’ Doubles): Cao Zi Han/Chen Fan Shu Tian 33-36 Meisa Anami/Himeka Hashimura
Match 5 (Boys’ Doubles): Chen Jun Ting/Liu Jun Rong 38-45 Kazuma Kawano/Shuji Sawada
Set 3
Match 1 (Girl’s Singles): Xu Wen Jing 8-9 Yuzuno Watanabe
Match 2 (Boy’s Singles): Xiao Gao Bo 18-12 Hyuga Takano
Match 3 (Mixed Doubles): Chen Jun Ting/Cao Zi Han 27-17 Shuji Sawada/Aoi Banno
Match 4 (Girls’ Doubles): Cao Zi Han/Chen Fan Shu Tian 36-27 Meisa Anami/Himeka Hashimura
Match 5 (Boys’ Doubles): Chen Jun Ting/Liu Jun Rong 45-42 Kazuma Kawano/Shuji Sawada