The Hindu : India misses promotion

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 23, 2003

Sport

Sport - Badminton

India misses promotion

BANGALORE March 22. India missed promotion to Group 2 by a whisker, losing to Russia 2-3 in the play-off for the overall No.1 position of Group 3 in the Sudirman Cup badminton championship at Eindhoven on Friday.

India, which topped Group 3 A, pinned all hopes on good performances by its singles players, in the play-off encounter against Russia, the Group 3 B topper. This was understandable as the Russians had better doubles combinations. Gopi Chand rose to the occasion, winning his tie, but Aparna Popat suffered a shock defeat.

In the opening tie, Nikolaj Zuev and Irina Rusljakova defeated Jaseel P.Ismal and B.R.Meenakshi 11-2, 10-13, 10-7. It was a good display by the lower-ranked Indian mixed pair against their fancied rivals. Gopi Chand restored the parity for India, when beat the Russian No.2 Georgi Izotov 15-6, 15-5.

But the euphoria proved short-lived as Aparna Popat, who had a disappointing run, crashed to 4-11, 11-8, 7-11 defeat against Elia Karachkova. Aparna had beaten the Russian girl a couple of times earlier in their meetings but her failure in a crunch tie, put the pressure on the Indian team.

The Indian women's pair, Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian came up with inspiring show to beat the Russian duo, Nina Vislova and Valeri Sorokina 11-6, 11-7.

With the match score tied at 2-2, all depended on the men's doubles pair in the decider. Markose Bristow and Rupesh Kumar, despite fighting for each point, went down to the higher-ranked Russian combination of Nikolaj Zuev and Stanislav Pukhov 15-12, 6-15, 7-15.

Russia, as the overall Group 3 champion, thus earned promotion to Group 2 in the next edition of the championship, scheduled to be held in 2005. India, will remain in Group 3.

The results:

Russia beat India 3-2 (Nikolaj Zuev & Irina Rusljakova bt Jaseel P.Ismail & B.R.Meenakshi 11-2, 10-13, 11-7; Georgi Izotov lost to Gopi Chand 6-15, 5-15; Elia Karachkova bt Aparna Popat 11-4, 8-11, 11-7; Nina Vislova & Valeri Sorokina lost to Jwala Gutta & Shruti Kurian 6-11, 7-11; Nikolaj Zuev & Stanislav Pukhov bt Markose Bristow & Rupesh Kumar 12-15, 15-6, 15-7).

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