India end Sudirman Cup campaign with 4-1 win over Australia

Placed in the 'group of death', India had lost 1-4 to Chinese Taipei and 0-5 against Malaysia to crash out of the mixed team championship

HS Prannoy of India hits a return to Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan during their men's singles match at the Sudirman Cup Finals 2023 world badminton championships in Suzhou, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on May 14, 2023. Credit: AFP Photo

Already out of the knock-out race, India signed off their campaign in the Sudirman Cup badminton tournament with a 4-1 win over Australia in their final Group C tie here on Wednesday.

Placed in the 'group of death', India had lost 1-4 to Chinese Taipei and 0-5 against Malaysia -- two heavyweights of the game -- to crash out of the mixed team championship.

Against Australia, India did not have the best of starts as the mixed doubles pair of Sai Pratheek and Tanisha Crasto lost 21-17 14-21 18-21 against Kenneth Zhe Hooi Choo and Gronya Somerville.

Also read | India lose to Chinese Taipei in Sudirman Cup opener

HS Prannoy drew the scores for India with a commanding 21-8 21-8 win over Jack Yu in just 28 minutes.

With nothing at stake, India fielded Anupama Upadhyaya in the women's singles in place of PV Sindhu and the youngster didn't disappoint, scoring a 21-16 21-18 win over Tiffany Ho.

MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila then defeated Ricky Tang and Ryane Wang 21-11 21-12 in the men's doubles to hand India an unassailable 3-1 lead in the contest.

The women's doubles pair of Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa finished off the contest in style, beating Kaitlyn Ea and Angela Yu 21-19 21-13 to hand India a consolation win.

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