Helsinki: The India badminton team’s chances of qualifying for the Sudirman Cup knockout stage ended after suffering a heavy 0-5 defeat against a formidable China here on Monday.It was India’s second consecutive defeat, having lost its Group A opener to Thailand on Sunday. India will meet Finland in its final group assignment on Wednesday, which has been rendered inconsequential. The men’s doubles pairing of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila put up a fight against Liu Cheng and Zhou Hao Dong before going down 20-22, 17-21.
The young Aditi Bhatt then tested her skills against Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei, who expectedly notched up an easy 21-9, 21-8 win to put China 2-0 ahead. World No.15 B Sai Praneeth later took to the court against Shi Yuqi in men’s singles, with the match turning out to be a one-sided affair as the Indian lost 10-21, 10-21.
In the last two inconsequential matches of the tie, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost 16-21, 13-21 to Zheng Yu and Li Wen Mei in women’s doubles, while Du Yue and Feng Yan Zhe beat Kidambi Srikanth and Rutaparna Panda 21-9, 21-9 in mixed doubles.