CWG 2022: India thrash Sri Lanka 5-0 in badminton

BIRMINGHAM: Indian badminton team scored another victory in the group match of the Commonwealth Games by thrashing Sri Lanka 5-0 in their Group A match. With this victory, they have almost sealed their place in the quarter-finals.

The mixed doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa started the first tie against the duo of Sachin Dias and Thilini Hendahewa. The Indian duo started the first game well and took a lead. But they later squandered it with Lankans gaining a 7-4 lead.

Indian players made a comeback with some good shots, cut the deficit and won the first game 21-14. They won the second game by an even more convincing margin of 21-9 and sealed the first tie. In the second tie, star shuttler Lakshya Sen took on Niluka Karunaratne. Sen did not get a good start as he was trailing 5-3 in the initial stage of the tie. But he managed to keep his nerves and attained 11-9 lead just before the interval. He then did not look back and finished the game 21-18.

In the next game, he crushed Karunaratne 21-5 and sealed the tie. In the next tie, Aakarshi Kashyap was in action against Suhasini Vidanage in women's singles. Aakarshi was off to a stunning start and squashed her opponent in the first game 21-3. She sealed the next game 21-9.

The next tie featured India's Sumeeth Reddy and Chirag Shetty against Sri Lanka's Sachin Dias and Dumindu Abeywickrama. They beat the Sri Lankan duo 21-10, 21-13. In the final tie, the Indian women's doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand took on Thilini Hendahewa and Vidara Suhasni and finished it 21-18, 21-6. India had on Friday thrashed Pakistan 5-0 in the opening match of the group team event in the Group A tie of Commonwealth Games 2022.