Indian eves beat South Africa 5-0, men lose 1-4 to Indonesia

The women team, led by Sania Nehwal, cruised to the win without a blot in the Thomas Cup whereas only Arvind Bhat tasted success from the men's team in Uber Cup.
World number six Saina spanked Kerry-Lee Harrington 21-8 21-8 in the first women's singles to put India ahead and then Aditi Muttatkar and Trupti Murgunde scored convincing wins to hand India unassailable 3-0 lead.

Aditi thrashed Stacey Doubell 21-5 21-6, while Trupti tamed Jade Morgan 21-10 21-9 in 20 in the second and third singles respectively.Shruti Kurian and Aparna Balan then got into the act and swept past Stacey Doubell and Kerry-Lee Harrington 21-13 21-10 in the women's doubles match.

Later, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Poppanna completed the Indian whitewash with a 21-8 21-12 win over Michelle Edwards and Jade Morgan in the mixed doubles."It was a very easy day for us. All the matches were easy there was not much of a resistance. The main idea was to test the conditions and get used to the conditions of the stadium and I think it will come handy tomorrow," Jwala said.

"The conditions are ok. I felt there was a little drift here and I found it a little difficult to spot the shuttle but it was a easy match so didn't matter," she added.
However, the Thomas cuppers had a pretty tough day in Kuala Lumpur as despite Arvind Bhat's stunning victory and P Kashyap heart-rendering attempt they couldn't save India the blushes.

World number 33 P Kashyap was given the responsibility of leading India and he almost gave the side a stunning start by winning the first game 21-14 against formidable Taufik Hidayat.But the talismanic Indonesian used his experience to bounce back winning the next two 21-19 21-18 to quell the Indian charge in a Group D match that last over an hour.

"I lost out in experience. I should have nailed him when I had a seven-point lead at 11-4 over Taufik but he used his experience to full use," Kashyap said."Yes, I am disappointed with the defeat but I am pleased with my game because I gave him a run for his money," he added.Sanave Thomas and Akshay Dewalkar lost 11-21 13-21 to Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan in just 21 minutes in the second match.

Arvind brought some smiles back into the Indian camp when he bounced back from a game down to defeat Sony Dwi Kuncoro 19-21 21-9 21-0 as his opponent retired midway in a 31-minute battle.Trailing 1-2, a lot was expected from Rupesh Kumar and V Diju but they failed to level the scores, going down 21-14 13-21 11-21 to Alvent Yulianto Chandra and Hendra Aprida Gunawan.

In the last singles, Anup Sridhar lost 8-21 17-21 to Simon Santoso to complete the tally.
"It was not a bad performance from India. It was quite ok. Actually in three matches we were leading but at the end of the day we couldn't win today and that is what would matter in the end," Arvind said.

"I am quite satisfied with my game. I played with good speed, although I feel I should have pulled off the first game. He had some back problem, so he was struggling a bit and after the second game he retired," he added. Indian men's team will play Australia in their second Group D match, while the women's team will face Korea on Tuesday.