In their opening round tie for group C, India made a disappointing start to their Sudirman Cup campaign, suffering a 1-4 defeat to Chinese Taipei. Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu fought hard, but it wasn’t enough as the opposition proved too strong for the Indian team.
Although Tanisha Crasto and K Sai Prateek started the mixed doubles contest positively, they couldn’t finish strongly, ultimately losing 21-18 24-26 6-21 to world no. 30 Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang. In the men’s singles match, world no.5 Chou Tien Chen defeated India’s HS Prannoy 19-21 15-21.
India’s hope of making a comeback rested on the shoulders of PV Sindhu, but it wasn’t meant to be. She lost 21-14 18-21 21-17 to Tai Tzu Ying, despite a phenomenal display in the second and third game. Chinese Taipei took an unassailable 3-0 lead going into the fourth match.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty put up a good fight in the men’s doubles match, but eventually went down 13-21 21-17 18-21 to Lee Yang and Ye Hong Wei. However, World No 17 Treesa Jolly and P Gayatri Gopichand’s efforts helped India avoid a cleansweep by winning the final women’s doubles tie with games ending 21-15 18-21 13-21 against Lee Chia Hsin and Teng Chun Hsun.
India is set to face Commonwealth Games mixed team champion Malaysia on Monday in their second Group C match.
Malaysia, who beat Australia 5-0, tops Group C on Sunday.
Tai Tzu Ying’s Bag of Tricks overpowers PV Sindhu’s Gritty Performance
PV Sindhu put up a good fight, but Tai Tzu Ying proved to be too strong for the Indian shuttler. It was Sindhu’s 18th loss to the Taipei player. Overall, Sindhu managed to look polished, especially in the second and third game, but Tai Tzu dominated the match and took it 21-14 18-21 21-17.
Sindhu’s best performance this season was a final appearance at the Spain Masters, whereas Tai Tzu Ying is a former world number one player.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.