The Hindu : Sport : India too good for Singapore

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 17, 2006

Sport

Sport

India too good for Singapore

Rakesh Rao

JAIPUR: If India needed a serious workout on the eve of its do-or-die battles in the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup Asian qualifiers, the men from Singapore and the women from Hong Kong provided it in ample measure on Wednesday.

Backed by a noisy crowd at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here, the Indian men coasted to a 4-1 victory and warmed up for Thursday's qualifying battle against Hong Kong. Among the ladies, Saina Nehwal and the pair of G. Jwala and Shruti Kurian made an impression in India's 2-3 loss to favourite Hong Kong. Later, India raced away to an expected 5-0 victory over Pakistan.

Chetan Anand, Arvind Bhat and National champion Anup Sridhar may not impressed on this day but proved equally effective in winning their singles after dropping the opening games against lesser-ranked rivals to establish a winning 3-0 lead.

In fact, the eventual 4-1 margin does not reflect the close nature of the contest. Barring the first doubles, all other matches could have gone either way. But all credit for Chetan for hanging in there against Hendrick Lee Yen Yui, ranked 13 placed below at 39, and pulling away from the latter part of the second game. Bhat never looked comfortable against Aaron Tan Wei Kiat but rallied from 5-9 in the decider to lead 19-16. After giving away two points, Bhat kept his nerves to win the next two.

Anup, too, struggled against Indonesian-import Hendra Wijaya, whose deception and alacrity stood out through the contest. For the better part of the game, Anup failed to exploit the left-hander's suspect backhand. But Anup surely played the big points better after recovering from big deficits in the second and third games.

The results: Thomas Cup: Group `A': Malaysia bt Nepal 5-0; Pakistan bt Iran 3-2; Group `B': Thailand bt Vietnam 5-0. Group `C': India beat Singapore 4-1 (Chetan Anand bt Kendrick Lee Yen Hui 12-21, 21-16, 21-11; Arvind Bhat bt Aaron Tan Wei Kiat 17-21, 21-12, 21-18; Anup Sridhar bt Hendra Wijaya 14-21, 21-19, 21-17; Rupesh Kumar & Sanave Thomas bt Alvin Fu Zhi Hui & Khoo Kian Tech 21-12, 21-11; V. Diju & Jaseel P. Ismail lost to Hendra Wijaya & Saputra Hendry Kurniawan 15-21, 21-13, 21-23); Hong Kong bt Singapore 3-2. Group `D': Chinese Taipei bt Sri Lanka 5-0.

Uber Cup: Group `Y': Korea bt Chinese Taipei 3-2; Korea bt Indonesia 5-0; Malaysia bt Iran 5-0.

Group `Z': Hong Kong beat India 3-2 (Wang Chen bt Aparna Popat 21-10, 21-5; Yip Pui Yin bt Trupti Murgunde 21-18, 21-15; Wong Sin Yee lost to Saina Nehwal 6-21, 4-21; Louisa Koon Wai Chee and Li Wing Mui lost to G. Jwala and Shruti Kurian 24-22, 19-21, 9-21; Yip Piu Yin and Wang Chen bt B.R. Meenakshi and Aparna Balan 21-10, 21-12); India beat Pakistan 5-0 (Aparna Popat bt Sara Khan 21-8, 21-7; Saina Nehwal bt Aisha Akram 21-6, 21-5; Aditi Mutatkar bt Asma Butt 21-17, 21-5; B.R. Meenakshi & Aparna Balan bt Farzana Saleem & Saima Manzoor 21-8, 21-9; G. Jwala & Shruti Kurian bt Asma Butt & Uzma Butt 21-5, 21-8); Thailand bt Pakistan 5-0; Hong Kong bt Singapore 3-2; Chinese Taipei bt Iran 5-0.

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