Indian women's badminton has reached new heights as India will be making it’s first-ever appearance in the Badminton Asian Team Championships (BATC) final. The Indian team defeated Japan 3-2 in the semifinals of the BATC on Saturday. The team's youthful talent played a major role in this incredible victory.

 

 

 

However, the historic moment did not happen without its challenges. Two-time Olympic medalist P.V. Sindhu, just returning from an injury layoff, fell short in the first singles against Aya Ohori (17-21, 20-22) in the opening match making India trail 0-1.

 

But, World No. 23 pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand set the tone with a hard-fought victory in the first doubles (21-17, 16-21, 22-20) over the world no. 6 Japanese pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, leveling the tie at 1-1.

 

 

 

The match turned in India's favor as Ashmita Chaliha (WR 53) stepped up with a dominant performance against former world champion Nozomi Okuhara (WR 20) (21-17, 21-14), extending India's lead to 2-1. However it was short-lived.

 

 

  

In the fourth rubber, Japan's Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto easily defeated the Indian pair 21-14, 21-11, the scratch pair of Sindhu and Ashwini Ponnappa in place of Tanisha Crasto, who was injured. This led to a decider in which 17-year-old Anmol Kharb, ranked a lowly WR 472, stole the show by stunning world no. 29 Natsuki Nidaira in straight games (21-14, 21-18) to seal India's historic victory and secure a spot in the final. This win paved Kharb's status as the MVP of the match and earned her the title of "Anmol Ratan" of the team.