Shuttlers end up in fourth spot

Delhi Games silver medallists India drew a blank in the badminton mixed team event after going down fighting to Singapore 2-3 in the bronze medal play-off at the 20th Commonwealth Games here on Monday.

In the final rubber, the women’s doubles, Sari Shinta Mulia and Yao Lei beat Indian pair Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa 29-27 in the second game to win the match. The tight final rubber lasted 56 minutes, with the Singapore duo passing up several match points before they finally ground down the Indians.

Danny Chrisnanta and Vanessa Neo got the Singapore team off to a strong start when they beat RV Gurusaidutt and Ashwini 21-19, 21-29 in the mixed doubles.

Parupalli Kashyap beat Huang Chao 21-15 22-20 in the men’s singles before Chrisnanta and Chayut Triyachart restored Singapore's lead with a 21-12 21-16 win over Akshay Dewalkar and Pranav Chopra in the men’s doubles.

The tie was pulled level once again when P V Sindhu overcame Liang Xiaoyu with a 24-22 21-13 scoreline to make it 2-2 overall. But the Singapore women’s doubles team held their nerve in the final rubber to win the bronze.

Jwala felt the selectors’ decision not to take mixed doubles specialists to Glasgow was a key factor in them failing to win a medal. She said: “It’s a mixed team event and we were lacking in our doubles, especially our mixed doubles. We didn’t bring any mixed doubles players and that really affected our team. 

“Only the people who select the team can answer why so there was a lot of pressure on the two singles and on us because the whole team was depending on these three matches.

On Monday, India lost their semifinals 0-3 to England while Malaysia battled to a hard-fought 3-2 win over Singapore. Kashyap lost 16-21, 19-21 to England’s Rajiv Ouseph. Chris Adcock won the mixed doubles match with wife Gabriel defeating Jwala Gutta and Akshay Dewalkar 21-16, 16-21, 21-11. 

Adcock then paired up with Andrew Ellis to take the men’s doubles 21-16, 16-21, 21-11 against Dewalkar and Pranav Chopra.