India face stern China test at Sudirman Cup quarters
It will be an uphill task for the Indian shuttlers when they take on China in the quarter-finals of the Sudirman Cup mixed team badminton championship here on Friday.
After sealing the second spot in the group stages, ninth seed India will be now looking for an improved show against top seed China, which have emerged victorious in 10 of the 14 previous editions of the tournament.
In the first match of the group stage, India failed to step up to the reputation as all shuttlers, apart from Rio Olympics Silver medallist P.V. Sindhu, were thrashed by their opponents.
In the first game against Denmark, only Sindhu managed to win her womens' singles match. Ashwini Ponnappa, Kidambi Srikant, N. Sikki Reddy, Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy failed drastically.
In the second match, however, India improved their performance, defeating Indonesia 4-1. The only loss was of the mens' doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
India qualified last time in 2011 but lost to China in quarter-finals. And, in the last two editions, they couldn't even cross the group stage. So, in order to breach the Chinese wall this time, Indian shuttler not only have to repeat their last tie performance but also have to perform in unison.
On the other hand, China, which have the likes of Lin Dan and Chen Long Sun Yu and Chen Yufei, will be aiming to tame India.
China only lost one of their 10 matches in the roundrobin stage against Hong Kong and Thailand. So, according to the given stats, so far the top seeds China have the upper hand. –IANS