Putting aside their dismal performance in their first tie, India defeated Indonesia 4-1 in a do or die encounter of the Sudirman Cup mixed team badminton championship at the Carrara Indoor Sports Stadium in Gold Coast on Tuesday.
India, who were struggling against Denmark on Monday, proved superior as apart from the mens’ doubles pair, all the shuttlers rose to the occasion.
Ashwini Ponnappa, who was paired with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in mixed doubles and with N. Sikki Reddy for womens’ doubles displayed her class as she won both the matches.
In the first match in the mixed doubles category, Ponnappa and Rankireddy had to fight hard against Tontowi Ahmad and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja to prevail over them 22-20, 17-21, 21-19 in a marathon match.
In the men’s singles category, Kidambi Srikanth sealed a contrasting win as the Guntur lad outplayed Jonatan Christie in straight sets.
Srikanth took only 39 minutes to beat the Indonesia player 21-15, 21-16.
It was a bad day for the men’s doubles pair of Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as they were beaten by Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 9-21, 17-21 in 26 minutes of play.
Indian ace PV Sindhu played true to her reputation and gave India a 3-1 lead when she defeated Fitriani Fitriani in 42 minutes.
Right from the start, Sindhu displayed some good shots and court movements to overpower her opponent. The Hyderabadi lass defeated the Indonesia player 21-8, 21-19.
The last match in the women’s doubles saw the Indian pair Ponnappa and Reddy playing their best game against Della Destiara Haris and Rosyita Eka Putri Sari. The Indian pair took 45 minutes to beat their opponents 21-12, 21-19.
