India end 4th,to wait on finals qualification

Doubles trouble caught up with India on Sunday when Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa ranked No 34 in the world found the Japanese world No 7 pair of Fujii Mizuki and Kakiiwa Reika too hot to handle....

Doubles trouble caught up with India on Sunday when Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa ranked No 34 in the world found the Japanese world No 7 pair of Fujii Mizuki and Kakiiwa Reika too hot to handle and India were edged out 3-2 in the tie to finish fourth at the Asian Uber Cup qualifiers at Thailand.

In a make-or-break attempt,the Indians fielded Saina Nehwal in the second doubles alongside Aparna Balan instead of Shruti Kurien,but the scratch pair could do little against Maeda Miyuki and Suetsuna Satoko,going down in 32 minutes.

India now await the team rankings on March 3,as the higher-ranked team between them and Holland fourth-placed team at the European qualifiers will make it to the Uber Cup finals. India currently lead Holland by over 4,000 points.

On Sunday,Nehwal started with a bang,winning her opening singles 21-17 21-16,but there was disappointment in store when Jwala and Ashwini certainly Indias better pair throughout the tournament could not pull off the second match.

Sayali Gokhale went down 20-22 13-21 to Eriko Hirose,but Trupti Murgunde kept the Indians in the hunt with a 21-8 21-16 thrashing of Yu Hirayama that took India to 2-2 and sniffing distance from the third-place finish that would have assured them automatic qualification.

With Nehwal pairing up with Balan,the Indians went for broke,but it was always going to be a tall ask,and Japan put the foot in the thin door-gap that was Indias shaky second doubles to win 3-2.

Its okay,Im not very disappointed, said Nehwal after the tie,adding: We did better than the group games where wed lost 4-1 to Japan. Im happy we gave them a good fight,and all of us tried our best.

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The Indian Uber Cup captain has her fingers crossed for the rankings in three days time and stresses that were India to make the finals in May,they will put up a strong show to prove that they belong to the top-tier of badminton. Im happy with the way weve performed, she said.

Asked if India could have fielded the erstwhile succesful pair of Gutta and Kurien together,Nehwal said: Theyve not played together for a year now,so it would have been a risk to ask them to play together. Anyway,Jwala and Ashwini have been playing really well,and even Shruti and Aparna had a few close games,so well work on strengthening them and look to the future, she said.