India were eliminated from the Sudirman Cup in the group stage after going down 1-4 to Indonesia on Tuesday. After losing their group D opener by the same margin to Denmark on Sunday, India needed to beat Indonesia to remain in contention for the knockout stage.
But after their second consecutive defeat, India’s final group stage game against the also eliminated England on Thursday has been reduced to an inconsequential tie.
England have lost both their matches to Indonesia and Denmark by 5-0 margins. With only two teams advancing from the group stage, Indonesia and Denmark have booked those spots from group D.
In a must-win game, India’s cause wasn’t helped by the continued poor form of their singles stars PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy. After defeats in their respective women’s and singles matches against Denmark, they went down against Indonesia too.
Mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto beat Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Gloria Emanuelle Widjala 10-21 21-18 21-19 in 70 minutes to give India a head-start in the tie.
But Sindhu lost her women’s singles match 12-21 13-21 to world number 11 Putri Kusuma Wardani in 38 minutes, after which, Prannoy was beaten 21-19, 14-21, 12-21 by Jonathan Christie.
Then riya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra were overpowered by Lanny Tria Mayasari and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti 10-21 9-21 in women’s doubles, following which men’s doubles duo of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi went down 20-22 18-21 to Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Daniel Marthin in 50 minutes.
India had reached the quarter-finals twice in 2011 and 2017, making it their best performance in the tournament. But the absence of men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and the women’s doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand hurt them immensely.
In had crashed out in the quarter-finals of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship in February.
After their second consecutive defeat, India’s final group stage game against the also eliminated England on Thursday has been reduced to an inconsequential tie. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
