CHENNAI: India's Thomas and Uber Cup campaigns came to an end on Thursday. It was the women’s side who were first to exit after a 0-3 loss in the quarterfinals against Japan in Chengdu, China. Later, the men’s team, the defending champions, went down 1-3 at the same stage against China.
HS Prannoy was the first to enter the court and he did well to pocket the first game against Shi Yu Qi. However, Shi recovered to take the next two games and the tie (15-21, 21-11, 21-14) in the process. Doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made a slow start in the decider against Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang and that cost them dearly (15-21, 21-11, 12-21). Lakshya Sen, the next man in, had to win. After the completion of the opening game against Li Shi Feng, things were not looking bright for Lakshya. But Lakshya pocketed the second game with ease before going on to clinch the tie, keeping the team alive in the process.
Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek K could not offer much resistance against World No 11 pair of He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu. The Indian pair lost 10-21, 10-21.