Asia Badminton Team Championships: Indian men beat Malaysia 3-2; play Indonesia in semis

In the five-match quarter-finals tie against Malaysia, H S Prannoy won the decisive match to give India a 3-2 win.

New Delhi: Indian men's badminton team continued it's impressive form to book a place in the semi-finals of the 2016 Badminton Asia Team Championships on Friday in Hyderabad.

In the five-match quarter-finals tie against former champions Malaysia, H S Prannoy won the decisive match against Teck Zhi Soo to give India a hard-fought 3-2 win at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium.

Prannoy, 23, played a dominating game to win the match in straight games 21-12, 22-20 in just 38 minutes. Earlier in the day, India's top player Srikanth Kidambi also produced a clinical display to beat Zulfadli Zulkiffli 21-14, 21-15 and give India the perfect start.

His win was followed by a tough double's win by Manu Attri and Sumeet Reddy, who beat Juan Shen Low-Kiang Meng Tan 10-21, 22-20, 21-16 in fifty minutes.

With a 2-0 lead, India could have settled the tie, but Ajay Jayaram lost his match to Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin in three grueling games, which lasted just under an hour.

The Malaysians then won the next doubles match, with Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Tieo surviving a tense 51 minute long tie over Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar 21-14, 14-21, 21-12.

Yesterday, India beat a seemingly depleted Chinese team 3-2.

India will play Indonesia in the semi-final tomorrow, while South Korea meet Japan in another last-four encounter.