Sudirman Cup 2021: Men's Doubles Only Saving Grace as Thailand Outclass India

India failed to mount a serious challenge against Thailand in their first match of the Sudirman Cup 2021 on Sunday as they lost 4-1. All the matches of the tie got over in straight sets with the men’s doubles match being the only saving gace – that too when India did not have their top pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth was disappointing once again as he lost to world No.25 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the men’s singles.

In the other tie of Group A, China smoked Finland 5-0. India will face China on Monday and then play Finland on Wednesday. A loss against China and if Thailand beat Finland, it will mean the end of India’s Sudirman Cup campaign.

The tie began with the men’s doubles where MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila were up against Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren. Both the games of the match were close but the Indian pair registered a 21-18, 21-17 in 36 minutes to give India the lead.

However, none of the others stepped up against Thailand and Arjun and Dhruv’s hope-filled performance made no difference in the tie eventually.

The second match of the tie was the women’s singles match between Pornpawee Chochuwong and Malvika Bansod. It was always going to be an uphill task for Bansod and the match was certainly a mismatch. Bansod and Chochuwong played long rallies and the Indian tried hard but lost 11-21, 14-21 in 50 minutes.

Third up in the tie was Srikanth and the world No.13 was up against Vitidsarn, who is not Thailand’s highest-ranked men’s singles player. Srikanth was extremely meak in the first game as he lost it 9-21. He fought toe-to-toe in the second game but Vitidsarn took it 21-9, registering the win in 43 minutes.

Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy failed to punch above their weight and lost 21-23, 8-21 in 45 minutes to the Thai pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai.

The mixed doubles pair of Sai Praneeth and Tanisha Crasto were no match to Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai and lost 13-21, 11-21 in just 33 minutes.

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