Indian women’s team settled for a bronze medal after suffering a 0-3 defeat at the hands of defending champions China in the semifinals of the Uber Cup badminton championship, here today.
After top shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu went down narrowly against their respective opponents in the two singles match, Jwala Gutta and N Sikki Reddy also bit the dust in the first doubles, ending India’s campaign.
Indian eves had scripted history in the last edition when they won a historic bronze in New Delhi and they repeated the feat this time at Kunshan Sports Center Stadium.
Indian eves, who assured themselves a bronze after 3-1 win over Thailand yesterday, needed a magical performance to tame 13-time champions China at home but unfortunately the miracle did not happen.
A lot was riding on Saina and Sindhu, being India’s best shuttlers, but despite their best efforts they could not give India a positive start.
Starting the proceedings once again, Saina played out of her skin before losing 15-21 21-12 17-21 in a thrilling match that lasted an hour and four minutes. It was her eighth successive loss to Li. The last time Saina had beaten the Olympic champion was in 2012 Indonesia Open.
Coming into the match with a 4-5 head-to-head record against Shixian Wang, Sindhu went full throttle before suffering a 13-21 21-23 in a 50-minute match. It was her fourth consecutive loss against the World No. 6.
Down 0-2 in the five-match rubber, Jwala and Sikki tried their best before capitulating 6-21 6-21 against Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei in 25 minutes.
