Double heartbreak as India men, women lose in quarters

Lakshya Sen. Pic/BAI

Lakshya Sen was the lone bright spot as the Indian men's team failed to defend its title after going down fighting 1-3 to China in the quarter-finals, while the women's side suffered a 0-3 loss to Japan to also end their campaign in the Thomas and Uber Cup Final here on Thursday.

Two years after India claimed their maiden title at the World Men's Team Championships, the country's shuttlers endured a tough day in office as World No. 9 HS Prannoy, World No. 3 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek K failed to go the distance in their respective matches.

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It was a rematch of the 2023 Asian Games team final which India lost 2-3 to sign off with a maiden silver. A roaring start ended with a dampener for Prannoy as his spirited fight concluded with a 21-15, 11-21, 14-21 loss against World No. 2 Shi Yu Qi which gave China a 1-0 lead.

For the second successive day, Satwik and Chirag had to walk back without logging a point for India after they were outmanoeuvred 15-21 21-11 12-21 by the World No. 1 pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang as the visitors slipped to 0-2.

All eyes were on Lakshya Sen to keep India afloat, given his 6-3 head-to-head count against Li Shi Feng, and the 22-year-old from Almora lived up to the expectations, seeing off the World No. 6 13-21, 21-8, 21-14 to pull one back. However, Dhruv and Sai went down 10-21, 10-21 to World No. 11 pair of Ren Xiang Yu and He Ji Ting to put paid to India's hopes.

Earlier, Ashmita Chaliha and Isharani Baruah gave a good account of themselves before the young and inexperienced Indian women's team suffered a 0-3 loss to formidable Japan in the quarter-finals of the Uber Cup.

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