Thomas & Uber Cup: Bad day for India

BANGKOK: India endured a tough day at the office as both the men’s and women’s teams suffered heavy defeats in their respective final group ties at the Thomas and Uber Cup here on Wednesday.

While the men’s team went down 2-3 to Chinese Taipei in Group C, the women’s side failed to take a game off South Korea and lost 0-5 in Group D. However, the twin defeats did not matter much as both teams had already sealed their quarter-final berths.

After recording successive wins – over Canada and the USA – the women’s team looked out of sorts against a superior opponent in Korea. PV Sindhu had a disappointing outing against An Seyoung, who won 21-15, 21-14 to give Korea a 1-0 lead.

The doubles pairing of Shruti Mishra and Simran Singhi was no match for Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan, losing 13-21, 12-21. Aakarshi Kashyap was sent packing 10-21, 10-21 by Kim Ga Eun as India surrendered the tie 0-3. Kim Hye Jeong and Kong Heeyong defeated Tanisha Crasto and Treesa Jolly 21-14, 21-11 in the second doubles match while Sim Yujin got the better of Ashmita Chaliha 21-18, 2117 to complete a clean sweep.

In the men’s tie against Chinese Taipei, India’s Lakshya Sen produced a gallant fight before losing 19-21, 21-13, 17-21 to Chou Tien Chen. The doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty could not get past Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin, going down 11-21, 19-21. In the second singles match, Kidambi Srikanth outwitted the tricky Tzu Wei Wang 21-19, 21-16 to keep India afloat.

But, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila saved four match points only to go down 17-21, 21-19, 19-21 against Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han in a tight doubles encounter. In the final match of the tie, HS Prannoy pipped Lu Chia Hung 21-18, 17-21, 21-18 in a close contest.

The twin defeats did not matter much as both the men’s and women’s teams had already sealed their quarter-final berths