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Kuala Lumpur - Indian shuttlers were thrashed 0-5 by their Chinese counterparts on the first day of the Sudirman Cup here at the Putra Stadium on Sunday.
India lost their Group A matches in all the five categories of the biennial world mixed team badminton championships, winning only one game out of 11.
In the first match, Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa expectedly lost their mixed doubles tie against World No.3 Nan Zhang and Yunlei Zhao 10-21, 13-21 in less than half an hour.
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A lot was expected from Parupalli Kashyap in the absence of Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta, but he too disappointed the small Indian crowd here with a below-par performance.
World No.2 Long Chen made short work of Kashyap, defeating him 21-11, 21-9 in 33 minutes to take his career head-to-head to 5-1 in the men’s singles tie.
It was a do-or-die situation for Thane pair Prannav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar in the men’s doubles tie to keep India alive in the clash.
Chopra and Dewalkar played valiantly but went down 23-25, 18-21 in 45 minutes to give the tie to China (3-0).
P.V. Sindhu was the only Indian to win a game as she lost to current World Champion Yihan Wang 21-19, 16-21, 14-21 in 66 minutes in their first ever encounter.
The Hyderabadi showed great skill against the former World No.1 to win the first game and lead in the second (8-5) when Yihan used all her experience to come back into the match and take the game and the decider.
In the final match of the day, Ashwini and Pradnya Gadre, World No.50, lost their women’s doubles tie 18-21, 11-21 to World No.1 Yu Yang and Xiaoli Wang as they were whitewashed by four-time defending champions China.
Being placed in a tough group and with a depleted side, India will need to win their second and last group tie against the Indonesians Monday to think of any chance of advancing to the next level.
World No.2 Saina Nehwal did not take part in the tournament as she is nursing a hairline fracture in her toe while doubles player Jwala Gutta pulled out for not finding a suitable partner.
