India lost their second Group C match of the Sudirman Cup badminton tournament to Malaysia, with a score of 0-5. The defeats of Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu were particularly disappointing.
After Monday’s loss to Commonwealth Games champions Malaysia, India has been knocked out of the mixed team championships at the group stage for the second time in a row.
In the last edition at Vantaa, Finland, India also couldn’t make it to the knockout stage.
World no. 30 Goh Jin Wei defeated Sindhu after a thrilling battle where Sindhu fought back during the third game after losing the opening game. However, Srikanth lost in straight sets in a disappointing display for India.
Dhruv Kapila and Ashwini Ponnappa lost their match against the world no. 8 pair of Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie.
India suffered a 0-3 lead against Malaysia in the tournament.
Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, and world no. 5 Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also lost their matches as India drew a blank.
Sindhu said, “It is a bit disappointing. In the third game, I was trailing by 8 points but I came back. Coming so close and losing those two points was very disappointing. The momentum was not there in the second game.”
“After 20-all, it was anybody’s game because you can make mistakes, there are a lot of pressure, you are nervous, you want to keep the shuttle in the court, you want to score a point, there are a lot of mixed emotions.”
India finished third in the group, with Chinese Taipei and Malaysia ending as the top two teams to qualify for the quarterfinals. India will take on Australia in their final Group C match on Wednesday.
Sindhu’s fightback ends in loss
Sindhu managed to defeat Goh Jin Wei in the first game of their match with a score of 21-14. However, Goh made a comeback in the second game and held a decisive 11-2 cushion at the interval. Despite Sindhu’s remarkable come back during the third game, Goh managed to win the match by producing two good shots in a row.