Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was the only bright spot in what turned out to be a dismal day for the Indian badminton team as it crashed out of the prestigious Sudirman Cup after a 1-4 loss to three-time champions Korea in a Group 1D tie, in Dongguan China, on Wednesday.
World No. 2 Saina produced a determined performance to edge out former World no. 5 Bae Yeon Ju 22-20, 17-21, 21-13 in the women's singles but no other Indian could outwit the Koreans as their campaign ended on a disappointing note.
India were pegged back 0-1 after men's doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar went down 10-21, 19-21 to World no. 8 combination of Kim Gi Jung and Kim Sa Rang.
The 25-year-old Saina brought India back in the contest but once Parupalli Kashyap's gritty fight against World no. 5 Son Wan Ho ended with a 21-13, 14-21, 13-21 loss, the writing was on the wall for India.
2011 World Championship bronze medallist combo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa conjured up hopes of a win before going down fighting 21-18, 12-21, 12-21 to Chang Ye Na and Jung Kyung Eun.
India's mixed doubles pair of Manu Attri and Sikki Reddy N lost 12-21, 20-22 to Kim Ha Na and Ko Sung Hyun in the final match to end the agony for India.
India had suffered a 2-3 loss against Malaysia in their opening tie of Group 1D on Monday.
In the women's singles, Korea fielded Ju Bae ahead of World no. 7 Sung Ji Hyun against Saina probably because of her better record against the Indian and the ploy seemed to be working initially.
Ju troubled Saina initially to enter the break with a 11-9 advantage. The Indian, however, kept breathing down her neck and eventually pocketed the game from 18-20 down with four straight points.
In the second game, Saina managed a slender 11-10 lead at the interval but Ju Bae started dominating the rallies and after a intense battle, the Korean broke off at 14-14 to roar back into contest with a six-point burst.
Saina was at her aggressive best in the decider as she dished out a game which Ju Bae could not negotiate. In a jiffy, the Indian marched ahead and sealed the match comfortably to bring India on an even-knell.
Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand handed Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap the responsibility of taming Son, whom he had beaten in straight games at the Singapore Open last month.
Kashyap led 4-1 initially but Son twice grabbed the lead at 8-6 and 12-10. The Indian, however, fought back to clinch the opening game to conjured up hopes of a win.
But Son edged ahead in the second game at 10-7 and even though Kashyap had clawed back with three points, the Korean marched ahead in giant steps to bounce back.
In the decider, Kashyap failed to curb his errors as he lost quite a few points hitting wide and long, and also rushed into a few shots to see Son holding 11-8 advantage and then zoomed ahead to a 17-12 lead.
Eventually, a miscued shot from Kashyap took Son to a 20-13 lead before the Korean sealed the match with a powerful smash to make it 2-1 in favour of his team.
Jwala and Ashwini produced a gritty performance and engaged in a fierce battle with Chang and Jung to move neck and neck for most part of the first game. While Jwala troubled with her sharp-angled returns,
Ashwini dished out some superb smashes from back of the court to eventually wrest the first game.
However, Chung and Jung changed their tactics in the second game and started dominating the rallies to lead 11-6. The Koreans continued their domination after the interval and moved to game point when Jwala hit the net.
The Indians saved two game points before Ashwini's return found the net and the Korean pair bounced back into contest.
In the decider, Chung and Jung surged ahead to 10-4, Although Jwala and Ashwini managed to narrow it down to 9-11 at the break, they lost steam after the interval as India lost the match.
In the inconsequential fifth match, Manu and Sikki showed fighting spirit in the second game but they lacked nerves in crucial moments to go down in straight games.
Image: Saina Nehwal.
