Sudirman Cup badminton: India blanked 5-0 by China for second group stage defeat, out of QF race

The Indian badminton team’s chances of qualifying for the knockout stage of the Sudirman Cup ended after suffering a heavy 0-5 defeat against formidable China in Vaanta, Finland on Monday.

It was India’s second consecutive defeat after losing the Group A opener to Thailand and now the final match against Finland on Wednesday has been rendered inconsequential. Top two teams from each group progress to the knockouts.

Up against 11-time champions China, the chances were always slim for the new-look Indian team but the fact that the players couldn’t even win a single game doesn’t reflect well on the bench strength in Indian badminton.

The absence of double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, rising men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and London Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal also hurt India’s prospects.

Starting the proceedings, men’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapil put up a fight against Liu Cheng and Zhou Hao Dong before going down 20-22 17-21.

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 ahead 2-0.

World No 15 B Sai Praneeth then took the court against former All England Champion Shi Yuqi in men’s singles but it…

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