Register thumping victory over Canada in opening round
Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in action against home boy K. Srikanth during their Thomas Cup match in New Delhi on Sunday. Lee won 21-19, 21-12. - Biplab Banerjee
New Delhi: Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu lived up to the home expectations as India took a 3-0 lead against Canada, even as the men faltered against Malaysia on the opening day of the Li-Ning BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Sunday.
While Saina and Sindhu hardly broke any sweat against their respective opponents, the Indian men apart from R.M.V. Gurusaidutt could not match their respective opponents losing 1-4 against the former champions.
Saina took just 25 minutes to see off Joycelyn Ko 21-4, 21-12 while Sindhu cruised to a 21-16, 21-3 win over Rachael Honderich. Later, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa sealed the issue for India, with a 21-11, 21-12 victory over Bruce Alex and Phyllis Chan.“I think there are still a lot of tough matches ahead. I cannot talk about momentum now. There is Hong Kong tomorrow. I have lost a few matches recently so the confidence is lacking. But I felt some difference in my game when I played today. I could see my strokes improving after training,” Saina said.
Earlier, Gurusaidutt, who played the third singles, lifted the home team’s spirit after top shuttlers K. Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap lost their respective matches.
Guru rallied from a game down to beat Malaysia’s Darren Liew 21-18, 13-21, 19-21 in more an hour battle. At one-all after two games, the decider was a one-sided affair with Gurusaidutt trailing right from the start but until 17-18.However, the Indian, with the help of his net flicks and side court smashes, made it 18-all before winning the last game 21-19 in their Pool C match.
Debutant Srikanth, ranked 18th in the world, showed glimpses of hopes before going down to world no. 1 Lee Chong Wei 19-21, 12-21 in the first singles, while captain Kashyap was thrashed by Chong Wei Feng 13-21, 6-21 in the third tie (second singles). In between, Malaysia also pulled off the doubles tie when Boon Heong Tan and Thien How Hoon beat Sumeeth Reddy B. and Manu Attri 21-14, 21-11 to go 2-0 ahead.
Srikanth, the reigning national champion, came up with his brilliant cross court smashes but could not stop Lee when it came to net dribbles and movements.
“I had my chances in the first game when I won five points at a go. I was attacking initially. But then I couldn’t close it. I liked the pace he provides but I am not used to the pace he makes you play,” Srikanth said.In the second doubles, Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Jerry Chopra went down fighting to V. Shem Goh and Wee Kiong Tan 17-21, 21-14, 14-21 in 47 minutes.
Among other top teams, South Korea came from behind to overcome a spirited Germany 3-2. The Koreans were bailed out by their doubles stars including world no. 10 Yoo Yeon Seong and Lee Yong Dae after Mark Zwiebler and Dieter Domke had put the Germans ahead with clinical victories in the first and the second singles.Meanwhile, Denmark, led by Jan O’ Jorgensen, thrashed Hong Kong 4-1. In the Uber Cup, defending champions China, Japan, Korea and Indonesia made winning starts on the day.
Other results
Thomas Cup: Group B Denmark bt Hong Kong 4-1, Japan bt England 4-1; Group C Korea bt Germany 3-2
Uber Cup: Group X Indonesia bt Australia 5-0, Korea bt Singapore 5-0, Group W China bt Russia 5-0, Chinese Taipei lost to England 2-3
( Source : dc )
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