India go down fighting against Malaysia

In the India vs Malaysia battle,in the mixed doubles,the Malaysians Nelson Wei Keat Heg and Mei Kuan Chow registered a 21-18,19-21,21-17 victory against the Indian pair of K Srikanth and K Maneesha despite the latter putting up a spirited show. The tie lasted for 41 minutes. However,Sameer Verma levelled the scores when he defeated Nur Mohd. Azriyn Ayub 21-10,21-12 with good ease in the men’s singles. But Malaysia got the lead again when its player Sonia Su Ya Cheah beat PV Sindhu 21-14,24-22 in the women’s singles. In the men’s doubles tie,Nelson Wei paired with Ee Yi Teo to defeat K Srikanth and T Hema Nagendra Babu 21-18,21-16. However,the Malaysian pair of Mei Kuan Chow and Meng Yean Lee lost to K Maneesha and PV Sindhu of India 18-2,21-12,14-21 in the women’s doubles encounter.

Talking to The Indian Express,India’s coach Sanjiv Sachdeva said,” We should have beaten Malaysia today. It was just not our day or perhaps the psychological factor that Malaysia are last years runners-up played a role today. Sindhu did not play up to the mark. In the mixed doubles also I was not expecting a defeat. Sameer played commendably. The boys played better today.”

Talking about the knockout stage match against Chinese Taipei tomorrow morning,Sachdeva said,”All teams who have made it to the last eight stage are equally good. India has a 50-50 chance.”

On Saturday,India had outclassed Vietnam 5-0 in their first league encounter. Malaysia thrashed Vietnam 5-0 today morning. In its first tie which was to be held on Sunday,Malaysia had got a walkover against Iran. Vietnam has lost in two league matches while it got a walkover in the third and last tie against Iran which was to be played on Sunday evening.

In the league ties held in the morning,apart from the Bangladesh vs Syria (Group ‘A’) tie in which the former emerged victors by 3-2,all the other matches proved to be one-sided battles.

In the clashes,in Group C Indonesia beat Singapore 5-0 and Hong Kong defeated Nepal 5-0 while in Group D Malaysia beat Vietnam 5-0 while in Group B Sri Lanka beat Jordan 5-0. In the league matches played in the evening,Chinese Taipei beat Thailand 3-2 (Group B),in Group ‘A’ defending champions China beat Japan 4-1,in Group C Indonesia beat Hong Kong 4-1 and Singapore outclassed Nepal 5-0 while Malaysia beat India 3-2.

The quarter-final clashes will be held from 9.00 am on Monday in which China will face Hong Kong,India will face Chinese Taipei,Indonesia will face Japan while Thailand will face Malaysia.

The Result: (Mixed Team Event: League Stage):-

Malaysia beat India 3-2 ( Mixed Doubles: Nelson Wei Keat Heg/ Mei Kuan Chow beat K Srikanth/ K Maneesha 21-18,19-21,21-17; Men’s Singles: Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub lost to Sameer Verma 10-21,12-21; Women’s Singles: Sonia Su Ya Cheah bt PV Sindhu 21-14,24-22; Men’s Doubles: Nelson Wei Keat Heg/ Ee Yi Teo bt K Srikanth/ T Hema Nagendra Babu 21-18,21-16; Women’s Doubles: Mei Kuan Chow/ Meng Yean Lee lost to K Maneesha/ PV Sindhu 18-21,21-12,14-21).

Insect found in food

An insect is reported to have been found in the food of a UPBA volunteer on Monday. Secretary Uttar Pradesh Badminton Association (UPBA) Dr Vijai Sinha said that contract of the company responsible for supplying food to the UPBA volunteers and officials during the Badminton Asia Youth Under-19 Championships has been cancelled because of this complain. “I had been getting complains from the volunteers for about two days and now after this complain,we have cancelled the company’s contract,” he said.