Sudirman Cup: Thailand beat India 4-1: In a disappointing day for Indian shuttlers, Kidambi Srikanth lost the men’s singles tie 9-21, 19-21 to Kunlavut Vitidsarn, handing 2-1 lead to Thailand. Earlier, in women’s singles, Malvika Bansod lost to Pornpawee Chochuwong also in straight games. Only India’s men’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila managed to win their tie in the Sudirman Cup 2021 in Group A. In the end, India lost the tie 1-4. All the matches of the Sudirman Cup 2021 will be streamed live on the Star Sport 2 SD & HD & Disney+ Hotstar – Follow India vs Thailand LIVE in Sudirman Cup on InsideSport.co
Exposed to top-tier badminton, Malvika gave a good display of her immense potential but she lacked the power and precision to trouble Pornpawee Chochuwong, going down 11-21 14-21 against the world No. 10 in the women’s singles.
Sudirman Cup: Arjun and Kapila’s impressive 21-18 21-17 win over Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren, ranked 147th, in men’s doubles was the only highlight for India in a disappointing outing. In the fifth and final match, the pair of B Sai Praneeth and Tanisha Crasto lost 13-21 11-21 to world No. 3 Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai.
India had another disappointment when Ashwini Ponappa & N Sikki Reddy pair lost to Thair pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul & Rawinda Prajongjai 21-23, 8-21.
Sudirman Cup: India’s mixed doubles pair of B Sai Praneeth and Tanisha Crasto will be up against Dechapol Puavaranukroh & Sapsiree Taerattanachai in a dead rubber. However, India could not offer any resistance in the mixed doubles as the inexperienced Tanisha Crasto was made the target and Indian pair lost 13-21, 11-21.
Defending champions China and hosts Finland are the other two teams in India’s group. India have to finish in the top two in Group A to advance to the quarter-finals.
Sudirman Cup: With P V Sindhu and the men’s doubles duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy missing in action, the onus was on senior players such as Kidambi Srikanth and women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy to carry the team through.
India will play defending champion China on Monday, before taking on hosts Finland in the world mixed team championships on Wednesday.
Indian badminton group-stage schedule and live India start times for Sudirman Cup 2021
Sudirman Cup:
@16:53: In a one-sided match, B Sai Praneeth and Tanish Cristo pair lost to Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul & Rawinda Prajongjai in mixed doubles 13-21, 11-21.
In the last match XD pair @saiprneeth92 & #TanishaCrasto goes down 13-21, 11-21 against world no. 3 XD pair Puavaranukroh & Taerattanachai of 🇹🇭.
With that 🇮🇳 goes down 1-4 against 🇹🇭 on day 1 of #SudirmanCup2021 in Vantaa 🇫🇮.#IndiaontheRise#badminton pic.twitter.com/AJyEWxlAn8
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) September 26, 2021
@16:49: Praneeth-Crasto trails 8-15.
@16:43: Puavaranukroh-Taerattanachai pair is cruising at the moment. They have opened up a 7-point lead at 11-4.
@16:40: Praneeth-Crasto claws their way back into the tie, trails 2-6.
@16:35: Praneeth-Crasto pair loses first game 13-21.
@16:26: Praneeth-Crasto trails 2-11.
@16:24: Praneeth-Crasto pair trails 1-6 in the first game.
@16:10: Ponnappa-Reddy pair loses 21-23, 8-21 in women’s doubles to hand Thailand 3-1 lead.
@16:05: Kititharakul-Prajongjai pair leads 15-6.
@16:00: Thair pair takes 10-1 lead in second game, cruising to a straight games win.
@15:57: Ponnappa-Reddy pair trails 1-7 in second game.
@15:52: Ponnappa-Reddy loses first game 21-23 despite leading 18-13 at one point.
@15:50: Ponnappa-Reddy makes it 21-21.
@15:40: Ponnappa-Reddy maintains lead to 15-12.
@15:34: Ponappa-Reddy takes a 5-point lead at halfway point, leads 11-6
@15:33: Ponappa-Reddy pair takes 9-4 lead.
@15:30: Ponappa misses a smash, Indian pair leads 7-4 in first game.
@15:27: Ponappa-Reddy pair takes early 4-2 lead.
@15:22: Ashwini Ponappa & N Sikki Reddy are up next. They face Jongkolphan Kititharakul & Rawinda Prajongjai pair in women’s doubles.
@15:14: India loses men’s singles tie, Thailand take 2-1 lead.
@15:12: Controversy in the match point. Kidambi claimed the shuttle touched Vitidsarn’s hair before landing outside the line. But the umpire is not having it and Kidambi loses the game 19-21 to surrender the match 0-2.
Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Kidambi Srikanth dig in as the battle continues between 🇹🇭 and 🇮🇳
Follow the action on: https://t.co/HAplroMP3U#SudirmanCup #Vantaa2021 #RaiseARacket 🏸 pic.twitter.com/f5sJmkb0fG
— BWF (@bwfmedia) September 26, 2021
@15:07: Vitidsarn takes 18-16 lead. Three points away from winning the match.
@15:07: Kidambi wins a point with a smash, levels at 16-16.
@15:04: Kidambi keeps fighting back, levels 14-14 in second game.
@14:56: Kidambi trails 9-11 at halfway point. He looks sluggish and Vitidsarn has taken advantage of that.
@14:49: Kidambi 4-4 Vitidsarn in 2nd game.
@14:45: World No 25 Vitidsarn beat World No 14 Srikanth Kidambi in first game 21-9.
@14:40 – Srikanth Kidambi trailing 9-18 to Thailand’s Vitidsarn in first game.
@14:37 – India’s Malvika Bansod thrashed by Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-11, 21-14 to equalise the India-Thailand tie at one match apiece. IND 1-1 THA.
@13:31 – Dhruv Kapila and Arjun MR give India solid start as the duo claims the first match of the tie 21-18, 21-17 in straight games.
@13:00 – Thailand fights back but it was too little too late as Dhruv Kapila and Arjun MR win the opening game 21-18.
@12:40 – Dhruv Kapila and Arjun MR will lead the men’s doubles charge for India in the absence of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Kapila and Arjun will face Supak Jomok and Kittinupok Kedren in the first match of the tie.
𝙼𝙰𝚃𝙲𝙷𝙳𝙰𝚈 🤩
🇮🇳 will take on 🇹🇭 in the opening encounter of #SudirmanCup2021 today and our lineup looks 🔥
Catch live action on @StarSportsIndia & @DisneyPlusHS from 12:30 pm 📺#IndiaontheRise#badminton pic.twitter.com/zM6o3lswmP
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) September 26, 2021
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Sunday, September 26 – India vs Thailand – 12:30 PM IST onwards
Monday, September 27 – India vs China – 12:30 PM IST onwards
Wednesday, September 29 – India vs Finland – Approx 6:30 PM IST onwards
Sudirman Cup LIVE: India takes on Thailand in opening tie of Sudirman Cup, Follow LIVE Updates
Sudirman Cup LIVE – India vs Thailand LIVE: An Indian team which is a nice little blend of youth and experience, will have to punch above its weight in what’s going to be an arduous challenge in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships here on Sunday.
Indian Team for Sudirman Cup: With many of its star shuttlers missing, India team will have task cut out when it starts campaign against Thailand in the prestigious World Mixed Team Championship. With double Olympic medallist and reigning world champion P V Sindhu excusing herself following a hectic Olympic campaign and former world no 1 Saina Nehwal also giving it a miss, the onus will be on the young shoulders of Malvika Bansod and Aditi Bhatt in women’s singles.
In men’s doubles, world no 10 Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy too withdrew at the last moment after the former suffered from muscle pull (Abs) and was advised a week’s rest. In their absence, young Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun will have to deliver the goods in men’s doubles.
India, however, do have plenty of experience in men’s singles and women’s doubles with B Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth and the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy in the team.
Sudirman Cup LIVE: India takes on Thailand in opening tie of Sudirman Cup, Follow LIVE Updates
India vs Thailand – Tough Challenge for India: First up for India will be Thailand, who have reached the semifinals thrice — 2013, 2017 and 2019. With 2013 World Champion Ratchanok Intanon withdrawing, the 17-member Thailand squad will be led by Asian Games (women’s team) bronze medallist and world no 10 Pornpawee Chochuwong and world no 13 Busanan Ongbamrungphan in women’s singles, while world no 18 Kantaphon Wangcharoen will be the top player in men’s singles.
India will also have to get the better of World no 8 women’s pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai, world no 3 Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattana Chai in mixed doubles among others.
After Thailand, India will face China on September 27 and Finland on September 29. China have won the title 11 times in the past, and has named a formidable team, including Olympic champion Chen Yufei and former All England champion Shi Yu Qi, for the event.
World no 21 men’s doubles pair of He Ji Ting and Tan Qiang has also been named in the squad, which also comprises Lu Guang Zu, Li Shi Feng, He Bing Jiao, Wang Zhi Yi, Liu Cheng and Feng Yan Zhe.
The third and final team in the group stage will be hosts Finland who have never never qualified for the knockout stage at the mixed team championships. The top two teams from each group progress to the knockout round (quarterfinals). The quarter-final draw will be held immediately after the last group match.
India first participated in the tournament in 2009 and finished at the quarter-final stage in the 2011 edition.
Editors pick
