India men enter quarters, women lose to Thailand

India men blanked Tahiti 5-0 on Tuesday night to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup but the women, who are already through to the final eight, lost their final Uber Cup group fixture by the same margin against badminton powerhouse Thailand.

Having already breezed past Netherlands 5-0 on Sunday, India began with a 23-minute win for B Sai Praneeth, who completely smashed the challenge of Tahiti’s Louis Beaubois to win 21-5, 21-6.

Sameer Verma made it 2-0 for India with a 21-12, 21-12 win over Remi Rossi in 41 minutes while Kiran George, taking the court in place of Kidambi Srikanth, took only 15 minutes to guarantee India’s entry into the quarter-finals with a 21-4, 21-2 victory over Elias Maublanc.

Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnu Vardhan Goud Panjala and Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won the two dead doubles rubbers for India to pocket all five matches of the tie.

India will face defending champions China in their final Group C tie on Thursday.

On Wednesday, a sans Saina Nehwal India were hammered by Thailand, who had reached the finals of the last edition of the Uber Cup in 2018. Saina is currently nursing a groin injury which she picked up during India’s opening fixture against Spain on Sunday.

Pornpawee Chochuwong started the proceedings with a 21-15, 21-11 win in 57 minutes over Malvika Bansod to get a 1-0 win before Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai overcame Ashwini Ponnappa/N Sikki Reddy 21-16, 21-12 in 43 minutes in the first doubles contest.

Busanan Ongbamrungphan’s 59-minute 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 victory over the talented Aditi Bhatt sealed Thailand’s position as the toppers of Group B.

India lost both the last two dead rubbers with Treesa Jolly/P Gayatri Gopichand and Tasnim Mir going down in straight games.

India will play the quarter-final against a yet to be decided opponent on Friday.

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