Double heartbreak as India men, women lose in quarters

It was a rematch of the 2023 Asian Games team final which India lost 2-3 to sign off with a maiden silver.

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.

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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. 

Also Read: ‘Classic team work’

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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