Out of the race for a place in the quarterfinals of the Thomas Cup, India just about managed to salvage some pride by finishing on the winning side against Germany in its final league match at the Siri Fort Indoor Complex here on Wednesday.
The 3-2 victory came after five hours when R.M.V. Gurusaidutt battled back from 9-15 in the second game of the deciding third singles to win 14-21, 21-19, 21-19 against Lukas Schmidt, ranked 50 places below at 80.
This was India’s only victory after losing the previous two league ties to Malaysia and Korea. The face-saving triumph came after National champion K. Srikanth and the second doubles pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Chopra won their rubbers.
P. Kashyap’s defeat, his second in three matches, was disappointing.
Gurusaidutt, who saved four tie-points against Schmidt, said: “We wanted to go back home on a winning note. It was important for us.”
Reflecting on his performances this week, P. Kashyap said: “I was very bad against Malaysia on the first day.
“I was excellent on the second day against Korea, but today again my performance was very patchy. I played well only in patches. I need to be a little more consistent.”
On India’s strategy here, Kashyap said: “It was always going to be tough because we were always expecting 100 per cent from three singles.
“We were 0-2 down throughout the doubles.
“Srikanth, playing the first singles, was under a lot of pressure. We saw it against Korea. Today also, it was very tough for him, although he managed to pull off his match.
“Overall, three singles players tried really hard. That’s where our strength was. We had to win and there was no option of the doubles.
“So, it was always going to be tough”
In the Thomas Cup, China, Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia emerged as group toppers. Their quarterfinal rivals will be drawn from among Thailand, Denmark, Korea and surprise-package France.
Debutant France had upstaged Russia 3-2 to finish second in the group for a place in the quarterfinals.
The Uber Cupsaw an upset too, with England beating Chinese Taipei in the race for a quarterfinal spot.
The results:
Thomas Cup: Group A: Indonesia bt Thailand 4-1; Singapore bt Nigeria 5-0. Group B: Japan bt Denmark 3-2; Hong Kong bt England 3-2.
Group C: Malaysia bt Korea 3-2; India bt Germany 3-2 (K. Srikanth bt Marc Zwiebler 21-18, 18-21, 21-18; Manu Atti and Sumeeth Reddy lost to Michael Fuchs and Johannes Schoettler 21-15, 21-6; P. Kashyap lost to Dieter Domke 23-21, 14-21, 21-14; Akshay Dewalker and Pranaav Chopra bt Peter Kaesbuer and Josche Zurwonne 21-9, 17-21, 21-19; R.M.V. Gurusaidutt bt Lukas Schmidt 14-21, 21-19, 21-19).
Uber Cup: Group W: China bt Chinese Taipei 5-0; England bt Russia 4-1. Group X: Korea bt Indonesia 4-1; Singapore bt Australia 5-0. Group Z: Japan bt Denmark 4-1; Malaysia bt Germany 5-0.
No need for change: Lin Dan
Five-time World champion and twice Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan is against the introduction of a new scoring system in badminton.
“I don’t like it. I don’t think making changes like this is good for the game. There is nothing wrong with the present system,” Lin told reporters.
The semi-retired Chinese, who will not be offered a wild card for this year’s World championship to defend his title, said: “I wanted to play the World championship but this is the format of the game. I am not arguing with that. I want to finish among the top-eight players by the end of the year.” — Special Correspondent
