Indian girls sign off in style

Indian girls sign off in style
R RAMACHANDRAN

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 15: The Indian girls, as expected, routed the Sri Lankans 5-0 in their last Group A tie in the BPL-Asian qualifiers for the Thomas/ Uber Cup badminton championships at the IG Stadium here on Tuesday. In their hour of victory one face, that of teenager and debutant Jwala Gutta, was glowing the most. Just a day ago, the 16-year-old was sobbing uncontrollably, having failed to prove her worth.

As for the Indian girls, today's triumph was of mere academic interest as they had already ensured a berth in the second stage. The other team to make it from the group was Singapore, who beat Australia 4-1.

Singapore men also did their country proud by beating Australia 3-2 in the Thomas Cup tie to grab a spot in Group Y, while Thailand became the other qualifier from Group X, blanking out Mauritius 5-0. In an inconsequential group B clash, Iran beat Zambia 5-0.

Aparna Popat conceded just seven points and took 25 minutes in her game against the Sri Lankan No 1 Renu Chandrika but BR Meenakshi dideven better with a 11-1 11-4 verdict in her singles against D Dilhani de Silva in just half the time. Manjusha Kanwar continued her winning form and the first doubles pair of Madhumita Bisht/ PVV Lakshmi went about its job methodically. The new pair of Jwala and Shruti Kurian demolished the last Lankan pair to complete a formality.

RESULTS
Uber Cup (Group A): Singapore bt Australia 4-1 (Fatimah Kumin Lim bt Kellie Lucas 11-2 11-9; Luxi Xiao bt Jane Crabtree 11-7 11-8; Li Li bt Laura Blackman 11-3 11-0; Fatimah Kumin Lim/ Luxi Xiao lost to Kellie Lucas/ Jane Crabtree 13-15 2-15; Li Li/ Fan Liu bt Venessa Tyrrel/ Tania Luiz 15-5 15-1; India bt Sri Lanka 5-0 (Aparna Popat bt Renu Chandrika Hettiahrachc 11-4 11-3; BR Meenakshi bt D Dilhani de Silva 11-1 11-4; Manjusha Kanwar bt DA Pameesha Dishanthi 11-4 11-2; PVV Lakshmi/ Madhumita Bisht bt Renu Chandrika/ Dilhani De Silva 15-5 15-6; Jwala Gutta/ Shruti S Kurien bt Pameehsa Dishanthi/ Nadeesha Gayanthi 15-3 15-2
Thomas Cup (Group A):Thailand bt Mauritius 5-0 (Boonsak Polsana bt Denis Constantin 15-8 15-10; Anupap Thiraratsak bt Yogesh Singh Mahandnac 15-4 15-0; Jakripan Thanathirat bt Hyder Aboobakar 15-0 15-1; Pramote Teerawiwata/ Teesana Pinvisvas bt Denis Constantin/ Eddy Clarisse 15-8 15-7; Kitipon Kitikul/ Khunakorn Sudhisodhi bt Yogesh Singh Mahandnac/ Hyder Aboobakar 15-3 15-2). Sri Lanka bt Nepal 5-0 (Tushara Edirisisnghe bt Pashupati Paneru 15-5 15-6; Duminda Jayakodi bt Balram Thapa 15-3 15-3; MS Fernando bt Rajeev Dahal 15-0 15-5; Duminda Jayakodi/ Tushara Edirisinghe bt Kiran Thapa/ Pashupati Paneru 15-9 15-6; MS Fernando/ Chinthaka Gunaratne bt Balram Thapa/ Rajeev Dahal 15-6, 15-4).Group B: Singapore bt Australia 3-2 (Ronald Susilo bt Stuart Brehaut 15-9 15-9; Yen Hui Kendrick Lee lost to Nathan Malpass 7-15 12-15; Kim Pong Patrick/ Aman Santosa bt Clint Pegrum/ Nicholas Kidd 15-7 15-3; Hee Teck Gerald Ho lost to Leonard Tjoe 10-15 14-17; Ronald Susilo/ Faris Mawardi bt Stuart Brehaut/ Nathan Malpass 15-10 15-10).