Indian shuttlers started off their campaign in style as they blanked their neighbour Pakistan 5-0 in their opening Group C tie to make it the quarters of the Thomas Cup Asian qualifiers being played at the Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on Wednesday.
With this win, India guaranteed a quarterfinal place in the qualifiers, but they need to overcome Japan on Thursday to ensure an easier opponent in the last eight. The semifinalists will make it to the main event of Thomas Cup that is to be held in Jakarta later this year.
India won all the five matches in straight games without facing any difficulty from their counterparts. This was Pakistan’s successive defeat after they lost by same margin to Japan earlier.
Indian captain Anup Sridhar led from the front and opened up well to give his team a 1-0 lead as he defeated Wajid Ali 21-16, 21-15 in exact half an hour. India will now fight it out with much tougher opponents Japan in the next round on Thursday.
The duo of Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar needed just 20 minutes to get past the challenge of Rizwan Azam and Muhammad Attique 21-11 21-9 in the men`s doubles match to double the team’s lead.
Arvind Bhat sealed the issue in India’s favour after defeating Umer Zeeshan 21-14 21-11 in mere 31 minutes while India’s V Diju and Akshay Dewalkar combined well to make it 4-0 with a 21-17 21-14 verdict over Waqas M Ahmad and Kashif Sulehri in 21 minutes.
Chetan Anand gave the finishing touch as he beat Ahsan Qamar 21-10, 21-12 to complete the rout.
RESULTS
Anup Sridhar Wajid Ali 21-16, 21-15; Sanave Thomas/Rupesh Kumar bt Azam Rizwan/Muhammad Attique 21-11, 21-9; Arvind Bhat bt Umer Zeeshan 21-14, 21-11; V Diju/Akshay Dewalkar bt Waqas M Ahmad/Kashif Sulehri 21-17, 21-14 and Chetan Anand bt Ahsan Qamar 21-10, 21-12.
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