Chengdu, China Apr 30 : An emotional moment unfolded on the badminton court as teenage sensation Anmol Kharb left the game in tears due to an ankle injury, while an under-strength Indian women’s team faced a resounding 0-5 defeat against formidable opponents China in their final group A encounter of the Uber Cup on Tuesday.
Having secured a spot in the quarterfinals with back-to-back victories over Canada and Singapore, the absence of key player Ashmita Chaliha was felt as she sat out the match against the 15-time champions. The Indian team is competing without double Olympic-medalist P V Sindhu, who opted out of the tournament.
It was a sobering reality check for the young Indian squad as they failed to clinch a single game from the Chinese across all five matches.
Adding to India’s woes, 17-year-old Anmol had to retire from the game after twisting her ankle during the second singles match.
Olympic champion and world no.2 Chen Yu Fei led the charge for China with a commanding 21-12 21-10 victory over India’s Isharani Baruah, ranked 83rd.
“A little disappointed in my game because I made too many errors,” said Isharani after her match. “I thought I would play well against her but it was an easy win for her… the pace was really high, I had to increase my speed.”
National champions Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra faced tough opposition in reigning world champions Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan, who secured a convincing 21-13 21-12 win, doubling China’s lead.
In a heartbreaking turn of events, Anmol had to bow out of the game after sustaining an ankle injury while trailing against Han Yue. Despite receiving medical attention, the pain persisted, leading to her retirement and sealing China’s 3-0 lead.
The subsequent matches saw Liu Shen Shu and Tan Ning defeating Simran Singh and Ritika Thaker 21-9 21-10, while Tanvi Sharma lost 7-21 16-21 to Wang Zhi Yi, completing China’s dominant 5-0 victory over India.
India concludes the group stage in second place behind China.
