Thomas Cup: Indian men's team beats Tahiti 5-0 to enter quarter-finals

Arhus: The Indian men’s badminton team hammered Tahiti 5-0 to enter the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup for the first time since 2010 but the women’s team suffered a crushing 0-5 defeat against a strong Thailand in its last group match. It was the first defeat for Indian women after beating Spain (3-2) and Scotland (4-1). The women’s team has already reached the quarter-finals. The men’s team, on Tuesday, recorded its second straight 5-0 win, having beaten the Netherlands with an identical margin on Sunday. The team is now in the last-eight stage and the last time Indian men made the quarter-finals of the tournament, they had lost to Indonesia. In the Uber Cup, the Indian women’s team wrapped up its Group B engagement with a drubbing at the hands of Thailand. Malvika Bansod lost the opening women’s singles 15-21, 11-21 to Pornpawee Chochowong. India needed to win the next doubles match but Ashwini Ponappa and Sikki N Reddy went down fighting 16-21, 12-21 to Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai. For India to stay alive, it was imperative for Aditi Bhatt to win the next singles match. She fought her heart out but lost 16-21, 21-18, 15-21 to Busanan Ongbamrungphan in a match that lasted 59 minutes. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand then fought hard before losing 17-21, 16-21 to Puttita Supajirakul and Sapsiree Taerattanachai. Tasnim Mir took the court with an aim to avoid a whitewash but lost 19-21, 15-21 to Supaninda Katethong. Tasnim had a good chance to win the first game as she was leading 17-14 but lost points in a jiffy to let slip advantage. Meanwhile, Tuesday’s win over Tahiti ensured that Indian men’s team will finish in top-two in the four-team Group C. India will take on traditional powerhouse China in the final match on Thursday. B Sai Praneeth began the proceedings with a 21-5, 21-6 win over Louis Beaubois in just 23 minutes in the opening singles. Sameer Verma made it 2-0 with an easy 21-12, 21-12 victory over Remi Rossi in 41 minutes. Kiran George sealed the tie for India with a 21-4, 21-2 thrashing of Elias Maublanc in the third men’s singles that got over in only 15 minutes. In the inconsequential doubles matches, the pair of Krishna Prasad and Vishnu Vardhan achieved a 21-8 21-7 win in 21 minutes before Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat Maublanc and Heiva Yvonet 21-5, 21-3.