Sri Lanka lost to India 3-1 in the finals of the mixed team event at the South Asian Under-21 Regional Badminton Championships which is taking place in Addu City, Maldives.

Sri Lankans, who topped their group by convincingly overpowering all three of their opponents to stay unbeaten, met a strong Indian team in the final round.

In the finals, only Ranthushka Sasindu was able to clinch a win for Sri Lanka. He outplayed his Indian counterpart Sai Charan Koya 21-17, 21-17 in the men’s singles.

In the women’s singles, Hasara Chathumhari Wijayarathne went down to Mansi Singh 8-21, 17-21 before Sarath Dunna and Koya defeated Dumindu Abeywickrama and Sasindu in a tight contest that was stretched to three sets 17-21, 21-19, 21-17. In the women’s doubles, Jananuwani Amanda and Hasini Nusaka lost to Deepshikha Singh and Mansi Singh 19-21, 22-24.

Earlier, in Group ‘B’, the Lankans beat Nepal 5-0, Maldives and Bangladesh 5-0.India also reached the elimination round in a similar manner, beating both Pakistan and Bhutan 5-0 respectively in Group ‘A’. –SP