Gold Coast (Australia): Indian shuttlers dished out a dominating show to notch up a stunning 4-1 win over former champions Indonesia to keep themselves afloat for a knockout berth in the Sudirman Cup mixed team badminton championships here Tuesday.
After suffering an embarrassing 1-4 defeat against Denmark in the opening match Monday, India desperately needed to win this contest against fifth seeds Indonesia.
India rode on stupendous performances by Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu and the experienced Ashwini Ponnappa, who won both the mixed doubles and women’s doubles match, along with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and N Sikki Reddy respectively. This was the first time that India have outwitted Indonesia in team events.
Both Denmark and India now have won one match each and the knockout berths would be decided only after Wednesday’s clash between Indonesia and Denmark. If Indonesia defeat Denmark, it will come down to the number of matches, games and points as only two can qualify for the knockout stage from Group 1 D.
Starting the proceedings, the new pair of Satwiksairaj and Ashwini produced another gritty performance to eke out a 22-20, 17-21, 21-19, over Tontowi Ahmad and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in a mixed doubles match that lasted 66 minutes.
Former World No. 3 Srikanth, who had reached the finals at Singapore Open recently, saw off Jonatan Christie 21-15, 21-16 to make it 2-0 in India’s favour. Srikanth was superb at the net and his dribbles left his Indonesian opponent dumbfounded for most part of the match.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty then suffered a 9-21, 17-21 loss against World No. 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo as Indonesia gained a point.
However, Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu then defeated Fitriani Fitriani 21-9, 21-19 in a 42-minute women’s singles match to guide India to an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match rubber.
After winning the first game easily, it was anybody’s in the second. But Sindhu reeled off four straight points after being down 17-19 to seal the rubber and the tie for India.
In the fifth match, Ashwini and N Sikki Reddy then prevailed 21-12, 21-19 over World No. 15 Della Destiara Haris and Rosyita Eka Putri Sar to complete a stunning 4-1 drubbing.
Press Trust of India
