Indians battle past Singapore

Indian men shuttlers registered a hard-fought 3-2 win over Singapore in their opening Group B match of the Thomas Cup (Asia Zone) preliminaries here on Monday.

Parupalli Kashyap got the Indians off to a good start, ousting Zi Liang Derek Wong 21-16, 21-19 in 40 minutes. The men’s doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar KT and Sanave Thomas strengthened India’s chances of pocketing the tie with a 21-8, 21-15 win over Zhao Jiang Terry Yeo and Liu Yi.

Singaporeans, however, managed to reduce the margin with Yong Zhao Ashton Chen prevailing over national champion Sourabh Verma 22-20, 21-16 in the second men’s singles rubber. Akshay Dewalkar and Pranav Chopra ensured that there was no more hiccup, beating Chayut Triyachart and HC Jeffrey Wong 21-19, 21-16 to make the tie 3-1 in favour of India.

Anand Pawar took the court in the inconsequential fifth match but the World number 71 went down to Chao Huang 14-21, 21-6, 18-21.

Indian men will take on hosts Macau while the eves will lock horns with Malaysia in their Uber Cup Group W opening match on on Tuesday.

Results: Thomas Cup: Group A: China bt Vietnam 4-1.
Group B: India bt Singapore 3-2 (Parupalli Kashyap bt Zi Liang Derek Wong 21-16, 21-19; Rupesh Kumar KT/ Sanave Thomas bt Zhao Jiang Terry Yeo/ Liu Yi 21-8, 21-15; Sourabh Verma lt to Yong Zhao Ashton Chen 20-22, 16-21; Akshay Dewalkar/ Pranav Chopra bt Chayut Triyachart/ H C Jeffrey Wong 21-19, 21-16; Anand Pawar lt to Chao Huang 14-21, 21-6, 18-21); Indonesia bt Macau 5-0.
Group C: Japan bt Kazakhstan 5-0; Thailand bt Sri Lanka 5-0. Group D: Korea bt Hong Kong 5-0.

Uber Cup: Group W: China bt Malaysia 4-1. Group X: Chinese Taipei bt 5-0. Group Y: Thailand bt Kazakhstan 5-0; Indonesia bt Sri Lanka 5-0. Group Z: Japan bt Macau 5-0.