Horsens, Apr 29:
PV Sindhu squandered a strong position as India failed to capitalise on chances, going down 0-5 to China to end their campaign at the Uber Cup Finals here.
The Indian women’s team had opened with a 2-3 loss to hosts Denmark before bouncing back with a 4-1 win over Ukraine.
China, the most successful team in Uber Cup history with 16 titles, was always going to be a formidable opponent, with India having lost to them three times in their last three major ties.
While Sindhu remained the leader of the group, Isharani Baruah and Devika Sihag were drafted in place of Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma for the other two singles.
Sindhu raised hopes as she looked set for a statement win before letting slip an 18-12 lead in the decider to go down 16-21, 21-19, 19-21 to world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi in the opening singles, handing China a 1-0 lead in the must-win Group A tie on Monday.
It would have taken a miracle to upset the defending champions thereafter and, though the young Indian shuttlers showed fight, they lacked the finishing touch and faltered at crucial moments.
Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra were no match for world No. 1 pair Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning, losing 11-21, 8-21 in the first doubles.
Tasked with keeping the tie alive, Isharani Baruah produced a fast-paced display to trouble Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei but left too many shuttles and committed errors at the net.
The world No. 38 Indian missed a sitter at 20-19 in the opening game as the world No. 4 Chinese eventually sealed a 22-20, 21-13 win in 44 minutes to give China an unassailable 3-0 lead.
The pair of Treesa Jolly and Kavipriya Selvam also had their moments before going down 10-21, 21-12, 19-21 in a 59-minute clash against Luo Xu Min and Zhang Shu Xian.
World No. 43 Devika Sihag, who had won her maiden Super 300 title in Thailand this year, too made a strong start but failed to sustain the momentum, losing 21-19, 17-21, 10-21 to world No. 97 Xu Wen Jing in the third singles.