Thomas and Uber Cup: Indian eves beat Thailand to reach semis
Despite Saina Nehwal's defeat in the opening match, India fought back against Thailand via wins from PV Sindhu and Ruthvika Shivani to win their quarterfinal fixture 3-1 at Jiangsu in China on Thursday. They will now face the winner of the last-8 match between China and Chinese Taipei in the semis.
Saina Nehwal took on World No.2 Ratchanok Intanon in the opening match of this tie. Although the Indian star had managed six wins over Intanon in their previous ten meetings, She got off to a poor start in the first game and lost it 21-12. Saina fought back in the second game and after conceding a 10-16 lead, she restored parity at 19-19. However, Intanon was too strong to falter at the final hurdle and she eventually won the second game 21-19, giving Thailand a 1-0 lead.
In the second match, PV Sindhu faced off against Busanan Ongbumrungpan and the 20-year-old continued her dominance over the Thai shuttler by cruising to a 21-18, 21-7 victory in 43 minutes. This was Sindhu's eighth triumph over Ongbumrungpan in the eight matches they have faced each other so far.
The third match of the quarterfinal tie saw a repeat of the Syed Modi International clash between Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa and Puttita Supajirakul-Sapsiree Taerattanachai. Like their last meeting, the Indian pair won a hard-fought first game 21-19, where they were trailing 18-19. The second game turned out to be a walk in the park for Gutta and Ponnappa, who won 21-12, as India took a 2-1 lead in the tie.
19-year-old Ruthvika Shivani, ranked No. 119, pulled out a massive upset with a 21-18, 21-16 win over World No.25 Nitchaon Jindapol. Shivani raced to a 20-10 lead in the first game, before Jindapol staged a mini-fightback and took it to 20-18. However, Shivani held her nerves and came out on the top. In the second game, both the women were tied at 16 at one point, before Shivani won five points in a row and gave India an unassailable 3-1 lead.
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