India Women Lose To Japan; Bow Out of Uber Cup

AARHUS: The Indian women's badminton team crashed out of the Uber Cup after losing to Japan in the quarter-finals in Aarhus, Denmark on Thursday while the men completed their group engagements in the Thomas Cup with a defeat to China.

The men's team, which is already through to the quarter-finals, suffered a 1-4 defeat in their last group match, setting them up against Denmark in the last-eight stage on Friday.

Competing without top stars like Olympic medallist P V Sindhu and hampered by the injury-forced ouster of Saina Nehwal, the Indian women were outplayed by their Japanese opponents, who claimed the tie by establishing a 3-0 advantage

Malvika Bansod was no match to world No. 5 Akane Yamaguchi as she lost 12-21, 17-21 in the first match that lasted 34 minutes.

The pair of Tanisha Crasto and Rutaparna Panda then suffered an 8-21, 10-21 defeat against the duo of Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto as Japan took a 2-0 lead.

It was the same story for Aditi Bhatt as she was outplayed 16-21, 7-21 in just 29 minutes in the second singles by Sayaka Takahashi as Japan sealed the best-of-five tie.

In the Thomas Cup match, only the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty could manage a win in the men's team championship tie as they beat He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong 21-14, 21-14 in a 41-minute contest.

The win by Rankireddy and Shetty duo boosted the confidence of the Indian team after a struggling Kidambi Srikanth began the day for India with a 12-21, 16-21 loss to Shi Yu Qi in 36 minutes. IANS