India had a forgettable day in the Thomas and Uber Cup preliminaries in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, losing in both the men’s and women’s sections leaving them tough encounters to make it to the elite level of world badminton.
The Indian men were blanked 0-5 by Japan, while their women counterparts went down 1-4 against Malaysia.
The men will now have to beat powerhouses Malaysia in the quarterfinals to qualify for the Thomas Cup while the women will be up against the Koreans in a bid to make it to the Uber Cup.
Anup Sridhar opened the tie against Shoji Sato and went down 17-21, 15-21 in 35 minutes.
Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar fought hard against Keita Masuda and Ohtsuka Tadashi before succumbing 9-21, 21-19, 14-21 in 55 minutes.
Arvind Bhat tried his best to keep the tie alive but suffered a 18-21, 21-18, 15-21 defeat at the hands of Sho Sasaki in four minutes short of an hour.
Finishing touch
Shuichi Sakamoto and Shintaro Iketa needed just 25 minutes to brush aside V Diju and Akshay Dewalkar 21-13, 21-12 before Kenichi Tago provided the finishing touch by beating Chetan Anand 21-19, 21-19 in half an hour.
Among the Indian women, Aditi Mutatkar was the only Indian to emerge victorious as the South East Asians claimed top spot in Group Z which had only two teams.
Saina Nehwal came close to beating Mew Choo Wong but succumbed to a 21-15, 20-22, 17-21 defeat in a closely fought match which lasted five minutes short of an hour. India were two behind when Trupti Murgunde went down Julia Pei Xian Wong 10-21, 12-21 in just 20 minutes.
Aditi raised hopes of a comeback beating Anita Raj Kaur 21-9, 26-24 in half an hour, but the Indians failed to do the job in the doubles.
Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian lost 16-21, 17-21 to Pei Tty Wong and Eei Hui Chin in 30 minutes. In the fifth match, Saina and Aparna Balan failed to hold on to a lead and went down 21-16, 10-21, 11-21 to Pek Siah Lim and Chiou Hwee Haw in 35 minutes.