The Indian women’s badminton contingent has had a sensational outing at the Thomas and Uber Cup as they overcame Scotland 4-1 to qualify for the quarterfinals. The youngsters were superb in their roles, propelling the Indian team to the last eight.
Despite facing a stronger Scottish contingent, the Indian youngsters have shown great character and grit to secure a very important win.
Malvika Bansod, who was sensational against Spain, lost to Kristy Gilmour. The Scottish talent highlighted the gulf in class as she simply dominated the match from start to end, by winning 21-9, 21-13.
But the early loss did not dampen the hopes of the Indian badminton team. In fact, Bansod’s loss served as motivation for the other players as they took it upon themselves to win their respective matches.
Aditi Bhatt, who took on Rachel Sugden in the second match of the tie, started the turnaround as she won 21-14, 21-8 with relative ease. The 18-year-old has had a superb campaign as she is yet to drop a game in this tournament. The momentum was carried forward by the duo of Tanisha Crasto and Rutuparna Panda. They defeated a much higher ranked duo of Ciara Torrence and Julie Macpherson. They won the match 21-11, 21-8 in a very dominant performance.
While it was unfortunate for India that Saina Nehwal got injured on day 1, it was a golden chance for Tasnim Mir to make her debut. The 16-year-old went out there carrying the pressure of replacing an Olympic medallist and simply decimated her opponent Laura Middleton winning 21-15, 21-6 in a pretty one-sided game.
Mir’s excellent result meant India had already won and the duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who were also making their debut, could play without any pressure. Although they still won their respective match against Kristy Gilmour and Eleanor O’Donnell, it was a nerve-wracking three-game match. But the Indian pair somehow edged it past their Scottish counterparts 21-9, 19-21, 21-10.
The Indian Women’s Badminton team have already secured their quarterfinal berth at the Thomas and Uber Cup. But now they will play Thailand in their last group stage game and get some match practice ahead of the knockout round.
