New Delhi, May 19:
India’s campaign at the Thomas Cup badminton tournament came to a premature end, following 2-3 defeat of the men’s team against Korea at the Siri Fort Sports complex here today.
India needed to win all their singles matches and skipper Parupalli Kahyap and RMV Gurusaidutt produced brilliant performances but young Kidambi Srikanth failed to win the first singles early in the day.
India will play their inconsequential third tie against Germany on Wednesday.
The home team did not get the start they were looking for as world number 18 Srikanth squandered a one-game advantage to go down fighting 21-17 12-21 18-21 to the world number nine Wan Ho Son in an hour and 11 minutes-match.
B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri did try their best and led 18-14 in the first game but they let the opportunity slip and eventually ended with a 18-21 17-21 defeat against Yeon Seong Yoo and Yong Dae Lee, as India lagged 0-2.
Captain of the side, Kashyap kept his team in the hunt with a comfortable 21-17 21-14 win over Lee Dong Keun in the second singles.
However, the doubles pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Jerry Chopra lost 16-21 16-21 to world number four combo of Kim Sa Rang and Kim Ki Jung within half an hour in the next match as India lost the tie 1-3.
Gurusaidutt once again came up with a stellar performance to register a 24-22 21-13 win over Hwang Jong Soo in the third singles as India finished with a 2-3 scoreline. (PTI)
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