India endured a tough day at the office with both the men's and women's badminton teams suffering defeats in their final group match at the Thomas and Uber Cup in Bangkok on Wednesday.
While the men's team put up a spirited fight before going down 2-3 to Chinese Taipei in group C, the women's team couldn't take a single game off of South Korea, suffering a demoralising 0-5 defeat in group D. However, the twin defeats will not matter much as both the teams have already sealed their respective quarterfinal berths after securing a top-two finish in the group following two victories.
In the quarterfinals, the Indian women's team faces Group C table-toppers Thailand.
For the Indian women, it was a reality check after two successive wins against Canada and USA as they looked awfully out of sorts against a much superior opponent in Korea.
Double Olympic medalist P V Sindhu had a disappointing outing as she succumbed to her fifth straight loss to world number four An Seyoung, losing 15-21 14-21 in a lopsided contest, as India conceded a 0-1 lead.
The combination of Shruti Mishra and Simran Singhi was no match for world number two pair of Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan, going down 13-21 12-21 in 39 minutes. Aakarshi Kashyap was sent packing 10-21 10-21 by world number 19 Kim Ga Eun as India surrendered the tie 0-3.
In the next two matches, Kim Hye Jeong and Kong Heeyong beat Tanisha Crasto and Treesa Jolly 21-14 21-11, while Ashmita Chaliha lost 18-21 17-21 to Sim Yujin as Korea completed a 5-0 drubbing of India.
Up against Chinese Taipei, the Indian men's team fought hard with Lakshya Sen and the doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila winning a game but only Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy could claim victory over their opponents.
World championships bronze medalist Sen produced a gallant fight before losing 19-21 21-13 17-21 to world number four Chou Tien Chen in an hour and 20 minute clash.
The world number 8 pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty couldn't get past Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin, ranked 3rd, losing 11-21 19-21 as India slipped to a 0-2 deficit.
World championship silver medalist Srikanth outwitted the tricky Tzu Wei Wang 21-19 21-16 in 53 minutes to keep India afloat. MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila showed their stomach for a fight as they saved four match points, only to go down 17-21 21-19 19-21 against Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han in a tight second doubles match, as India conceded a decisive 1-3 lead to Chinese Taipei.
In the final match, world number 23 HS Prannoy triumphed 21-18 17-21 21-18 against world number 119 Lu Chia Hung in a close affair.