Depleted India struggle in world team championships
THOMAS/UBER CUP Men’s team loses to France while women feel the heat against Canada BANGKOK:
India’s young but depleted men and women’s teams jeopardised their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage after suffering an identical 1-4 loss to France and Canada respectively in the opening Group matches of the Thomas and Uber Cup Final here on Sunday.
The Indian men’s team paid the price for not fielding world No. 9 HS Prannoy and the doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy as the inexperienced team proved no match for their French counterparts, who were ranked lower.
India are without their top ranked player in men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth, who has skipped the event.
World number 18 B Sai Praneeth gave India a positive start in their first Group A match, defeating Brice Leverdez 21-7 21-18 to take a 1-0 lead, but none of the other players could step up when it mattered.
In the second match, world No. 38 Arjun MR and Ramchandran Shlok, who had recently reached the quarterfinals at Australia and Swiss Open, lost 13-21, 16-21 to Bastian Kersaudy and Julien Maio, ranked 47th.
Swiss Open champion Sameer Verma, ranked 21, was then handed the responsibility of bringing India back into the contest but he went down 18-21, 22-20 18-21 to Lucas Corvee in the second singles as France grabbed a 2-1 lead.
World No. 70 Arun George and Sanyam Shukla played the second doubles, but were no match for 103 ranked Thom Gicquel and Ronan Labar, losing 10-21, 12-21 in 28 minutes.
Sixteen-year-old Lakshya Sen, who has shown promise in recent tournaments and even took a game off Lin Dan in New Zealand Open, played the third singles and gave a good account of himself. He fought hard before losing 20-22 21-19 19-21 to Toma Junior Popov. The men’s team will next face Australia.
In the Uber Cup, India is without the services of Olympic sil-
SRIKANTH AND SINDHU HAVE SKIPPED THE COMPETITION. SAI PRANEETH WON INDIA’S ONLY MATCH AS MEN’S TEAM WENT DOWN 14 TO FRANCE IN GROUP A ENCOUNTER.
ver medallist P V Sindhu and the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy.
The women’s team, which had won bronze in the last two editions, is heavily dependent on Saina Nehwal to give them a strong start in Group A.
However, CWG gold medallist Saina went down 21-15, 16-21 16-21 to Michelle Li in the first match, to hand over a 1-0 lead to Canada. It was Michelle’s first win over Saina as the gritty Canadian, ranked 22 in world, had lost to Saina before.
“I think it was a good opportunity because she’s been playing well and it is nice to play against her in the Uber Cup, and I’m happy to get the win,” said Michelle Li.
In the second singles, young Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka went down to Rachel Honderich 11-21, 13-21 as Canada grabbed a 2-0 advantage.
The doubles pair of Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram, ranked 41, gave India a glimmer of hope as they defeated Michelle Tong and Josephine Wu 21-19 21-15 in 27 minutes, but Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli failed to get it across Brittney Tam, losing 11-21 15-21, as Canada took 3-1 lead. In the fifth and final match, Sanyogita Ghorpade and Prajakta Sawant lost 15-21 16-21 to Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai to end their miserable outing. The women’s team will next play Australia .
MOMOTA STARS AS JAPAN WIN
In other Thomas Cup matches, Japan upstaged Hong Kong 4-1 in Group C. The talented Kento Momota, who won the Badminton Asian Championships, gave Japan a strong start beating Ng Ka Long 15-21, 21-16, 21-15 in the first men’s singles. Japan raced through the next three matches before Hong Kong youngster Lee Cheuk Yiu earned a consolation point with a 21-15 21-13 victory over Kazumasa Sakai in the last match. In another match, Indonesia thrashed Canada 5-0.
HOSTS THAILAND MAKE STRONG START
In other Uber Cup matches, Thailand, buoyed by the support of home crowd, thrashed Germany 5-0 in Group B.
Ratchanok Intanon eased past Luise Heim 21-12, 21-16 in the opening singles while Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajonjai beat Isabel Herttrich and Carla Nelte 21-14, 13-21 21-10. Nitchaon Jindapol got the better of Yvonne Li 21-12, 21-18. Thaipair Puttita Supajirakul and Sapsiree Taerattanachai won the second doubles while Busanan Ongbamrungphan sealed the third singles.
Korea blanked Mauritius 5-0 while Japan too beat Australia 5-0. Chinese Taipei got the better of Hong Kong 4-1.