India off to a winning start

Rakesh N -

India has never been successful at the Sudirman Cup or Thomas & Uber Cup, and this year there wasn’t much of a difference as well.

After a disastrous outing in Finland at the 2021 BWF Sudirman Cup, Indians are off to a winning start at the Thomas & Uber Cup.

At the Thomas Cup, the Indian men’s team is drawn in Group C alongside China, Netherlands, and Tahiti. In the first of the group stage match, the Indian’s faced the Netherlands and thumped them 5-0.

World No. 15 Kidambi Srikanth kicked off India’s proceedings with a comfortable straight-games win over Joran Kweekel, 21-12, 21-14. Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who were missing from the action at the Sudirman Cup, got the better out of Ruben Jille/Ties van der Lecq 21-19, 21-12.

2019’s BWF World championships bronze-medallist B Sai Praneeth later sealed the tie with a win over Robin Mesman, 21-4, 21-12. In the second doubles match, MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila beat Andy Buijk/Brian Wassnik, 21-12, 21-13. Sameer Verma played the final match of the tie and walked away with an easy win over Gijs Duijs, 21-6, 21-11, and swept the tie 5-0.

The Indian women’s team went through a difficult first match against Spain in the Uber Cup. Won the tie 3-2.

No. 1 Saina Nehwal started India’s tie against Spain’s Clara Azurmendi. Saina was supposed to run away with the match, but, to everyone's surprise, she was forced to concede the match due to injury.

Malvika Bansod played the second match of the day against Beatriz Corrales. With a straight games win leveled the tie at 1-1. Malvika Bansod vs Beatriz Corrales 21-13, 21-15.

The young pair of Tanisha Crasto/Rutuparna Panda won their doubles tie against Paula Lopez/Lorena Usle 21-10, 21-8. India leads 2-1.

Aditi Bhatt played the third women’s singles match against Ania Setien, won the tie 21-16, 21-14. India leading 3-1.

The experienced pair of Ashwini Ponnappa/N Sikki Reddy took the centre stage next for the fifth and final of the day. The Indian's were poised to close the tie 4-1, but the Spaniards stunned the Indians with a superb 3-games win: 18-21, 21-14, 17-21.

The Indian women will next play Scotland in Group B and men to play Tahiti in Group C. Both the matches are scheduled to happen on Tuesday. With a win in the next match, India will qualify for the knockout stages.