Indian men in quarters

Badminton: Thomas and Uber Cup: Women enter last eight despite loss to Korea

Kashyap set the ball rolling for India, spanking Jeff Tho 21-8, 21-10 in a 26-minute match, while Arvind Bhat and Gurusaidutt also won their respective matches to put India 3-0 ahead after the first three singles.

Arvind beat Chad Whitehead 21-6, 21-12, while Gurusaidutt took 25 minutes to pack off Stuart Gomez 21-15, 21-13.

The only blot in the men’s team was the 20-22, 18-21 thrashing Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar received at the hands of Glenn Warfe and Ross Smith in men’s doubles.

However, V Diju and Akshay Dewalkar swept past Raj Veeran and Chad Whitehead 21-12, 21-17 to wrap up the day with a 4-1 victory over the hapless Aussies.

The women’s Uber Cup team, which had already reached the quarters on Monday, however, had a tough day as none apart from Saina could get past the formidable Koreans. World number six Saina started the Indian proceedings, carving out a hard-fought 22-20, 18-21, 17-21 win over Seung Hee Bae.

But the Korean were quick to draw parity with Hyo Jung Lee and Min Jung Kim seeing off Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa 21-11, 21-13 in the first women’s doubles match. Levelled 1-1, pressure was on Aditi Mutatkar to bring India back  but Ji Hyun Sung scored a 1-23, 21-11, 21-14.

Shruti Kurian and Aparna Balan went down 13-21, 11-21 to Kyung Won Lee and Jung Eun Ha in the second women’s doubles, while a gritty Sayali Gokhale played a brilliant game before losing 10-21, 21-19, 12-21 to Yun Hwa Lee in 47 minutes.

Results: Thomas Cup: Group A: China bt Korea 4-1; Group B: Denmark bt Germany 4-1; Group C: Japan bt Malaysia 3-2.

Group D: India bt Australia 4-1 (Parupalli Kashyap bt Jeff Tho 21-8, 21-10; Arvind Bhat bt Chad Whitehead 21-6, 21-12; RMV Gurusaidutt bt Stuart Gomez 21-15, 21-13; Sanave Thomas/ Rupesh Kumar lt to Glenn Warfe/ Ross Smith 20-22, 18-21; V Diju/ Akshay Dewalkar bt Raj Veeran/ Chad Whitehead 21-12, 21-17.

Uber Cup: Group A: China bt Malaysia 5-0; Group B: Indonesia bt Denmark 5-0; Group C: Japan bt Russia 5-0.

Group D: Korea bt India 4-1 (Seung Hee Bae lt to Saina Nehwal 22-20, 18-21, 17-21; Hyo Jung Lee/Min Jung Kim bt Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa 21-11, 21-13; Ji Hyun Sung bt Adit Muttatkar 21-23, 21-11, 21-14; Kyung Won Lee/Jung Eun Ha bt Shruti Kurian/Aparna Balan 21-13, 21-11; Yun Hwa Lee bt Sayali Gokhale 21-10, 19-21, 21-12).