Horsens (Denmark), April 29 (IANS) The Indian men’s team finished second in Group A after their spirited effort was not enough to beat defending champions China in their last round robin clash of the Thomas & Uber Cup 2026 in Horsens, Denmark, on Wednesday.
Having beaten Canada and Australia in their earlier group clashes, both India and China were assured of a quarterfinal berth, and the face-off on Wednesday was to determine the group winners, which China ultimately won 3-2.
Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had their chances, but they faltered in the decider.
Sen went down 19-21, 21-8, 12-21 against former All England champion Li Shi Feng, while Satwik-Chirag saved five match points before going down 13-21, 21-13, 24-26 against Liang Wei Kang and Wang Chang.
Asian Championships silver medallist Ayush Shetty then put India on the scoresheet when he fought back from a game down to beat world no 15 Weng Hong Yang 17-21, 21-13, 21-15.
However, the second men’s doubles pairing of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun could not build on the momentum and went down 17-21, 13-21 against He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu to end India’s chances of topping the group.
HS Prannoy then ended the day on a winning note for India by beating Lu Guang Zu 20-22, 21-19, 2111 as they await the quarterfinal draw.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Indian women’s team came up with a spirited performance against defending champions China in their last Group A clash of the Thomas & Uber Cup 2026, but could not avoid a 0-5 loss.
Facing a must-win situation to stay in the hunt for a quarterfinal berth, former world champion PV Sindhu returned to play the first singles and had her chances against world no 2 Wang Zhi Yi.
Sindhu led Wang for most of the third game and even opened up an 18-12 lead in the decider. The Chinese then took seven consecutive points to take the lead and wrapped up the match a couple of points later.
Results:
Men: India lose to China 2-3 (Lakshya Sen lost to Li Shi Feng 19-21, 21-8, 12-21; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty lost to Liang Wei Kang/Wang Chang 13-21, 21-13, 24-26; Ayush Shetty bt Weng Hong Yang 17-21, 21-13, 21-15; Hariharan Amsakarunan/MR Arjun lost to He Ji Ting/Ren Xiang Yu 17-21, 13-21; HS Prannoy vs Lu Guang Zu 20-22, 21-19, 21-11).
–IANS
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