QINGDAO: India's title defense in the women's team event came to a disappointing end after a 0-3 loss to a second-string China in the quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Team Championships here on Friday.

India had won a historic gold medal in the previous edition in 2024, but the absence of the talismanic PV Sindhu due to a niggle made the task of defending the title a tough one.

World No42 Tanvi, who had been leading the charge in the first singles with two wins earlier in the tournament, failed to provide a positive start, losing 9-21 9-21 to World No10 Gao Fang Jie in a lop-sided opener.

The doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly then put up a spirited fight before going down 22-24 18-21 to the world No4 combination of Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian, as China took a decisive 2-0 lead.

Facing a do-or-die situation, Rakshitha Ramraj battled hard against Xu Wen Jing in the second singles but eventually lost 14-21 21-15 17-21 in a 69-minute contest.

India had begun their campaign with a 5-0 sweep of Myanmar before suffering a narrow 2-3 defeat to Thailand in their final group tie on Thursday.

The Indian men's team will face South Korea in the quarterfinals later in the day.