Saina Nehwal suffered a shock defeat to Inthanon Ratchanok, but a determined India rode on P Kashyap and the pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa's stunning victories to enter the quarter-finals of the Sudirman Cup, after a 3-2 victory over Thailand in the second match of Group C in Qingdao, China, on Monday.
India, who lost to Chinese Taipie 2-3 in their opener on Sunday, pushed their higher-ranked opponents all the way in the mixed team competition and despite Saina's unexpected loss, cruised to the knock-out stage for the first time since the Sudirman Cup started in 1989.
The world No 43 pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas gave India a positive start after seeing off Bodin Issara and Maneepong Jongjit, ranked 125, 21-13 21-17 in the men's doubles, the first rubber.
But Saina, who is ranked fourth in the world, couldn't make it count as she lost 14-21, 20-22 to world No 18 Inthanon in a 36-minute clash in the women's singles.
Locked 1-1, Kashyap had the uphill task of putting it across world No 6 Ponsana. But the Andhra Pradesh lad didn't disappoint as he notched a stunning 12-21, 21-18, 21-16 victory in 60 minutes to give India a 2-1 lead get back in the hunt.
Inspired by Kashyap's stunning victory, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, ranked 32, also saw off the challenge from world No 8 Duang Anong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul, winning 21-18, 15-21, 21-19 in the fourth rubber to help India clinch victory convincingly in the end.
In the final rubber, the mixed doubles pair of Pranav Chopra and Prajakta Sawant went down 18-21, 7-21 to the world No 2 combo of Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam.
Earlier, Saina, who was stretched by Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-ving on Sunday, made a sluggish start and trailed 1-8 and 3-12 before losing the opening game.
The 21-year-old was quicker in the second game and even opened a healthy 12-7 lead but couldn't hold on to it, as Inthanon took the game away to put the Indian camp in despair.
"I had a tough game yesterday and that made me really slow today. But I was still confident I could pull it off today, but I made too many mistakes," Saina said after the match.
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