After a superb win against Scotland at the Thomas and Uber Cup, the Indian women’s team has bowed out with a 3-0 defeat against Japan. A lot of Indian youngsters plied their trade for India in the absence of senior players like PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal who got injured and had to withdraw herself after the first game.
The tie started with a huge test for the prodigious Malvika Bansod who faced World No. 5 Akane Yamaguchi. Despite the youngster’s valiant efforts, Bansod failed to match the intensity and experience of Yamaguchi and lost 12-21, 17-21 in 34 minutes.
The doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Rutuparna Panda also suffered a similar fate as they lost to Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto. The gulf in class between the two pairs was clearly evident as the Indian pair lost 8-21, 10-21 in a match that lasted 41 minutes. Back to back wins allowed Japan to take a healthy lead and the game was over for the Indian ladies.
Still Aditi Bhatt turned up to play for pride against World No. 15 Sayaka Takahashi. Bhatt suffered a crushing defeat in the hands of the Japanese, as she won 16-21, 7-21 wrapping it up in just 29 minutes.
It has been a good outing for the entire Indian badminton contingent. The Men’s Badminton created history when they qualified for the quarterfinals of the Thomas and Uber Cup for the first since 2010. However, they will head onto the knockouts with a defeat as they lost their last group stage match against China.
India’s premier shuttler Srikanth Kidambi started the tie and he suffered a defeat against Shi Yu Qi. The Chinese shuttler outplayed Srikanth 12-21 16-21 in just 36 minutes.
Among the men’s team, only the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty managed to win their respective ties. The Indian duo defeated He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong in straight games 21-14 21-14 wrapping it up in 41 minutes. They helped India level the score to 1-1 but eventually, it was of no use.
The momentum gained by Rankireddy and Shetty was all lost when Sameer Verma failed to hold his fort against Chinese shuttler Lu Guang Ju. Verma tried his best but ended second best. He lost 21-14, 9-21, 22-24 in a gruelling encounter that lasted 1 hour and 23 minutes.
Then Indian doubles pair M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila went up against Liu Cheng and Wang Yi Lyu also came home empty-handed. Despite a stern challenge, the Indian duo lost 24-26 19-21.
Lastly, Kiran George lost against Li Shi Feng 15-21 17-21. It was the penultimate tie of the match as India lost 4-1 against Japan. The Indian men’s badminton team will face Denmark in the quarterfinals at the Thomas and Uber Cup.
