India face defeat against Thailand in Thomas and Uber Cup 2020

The is the first defeat for the team in Group B.

After an excellent start to the Thomas & Uber Cup 2020, the Indian women's badminton team faced a disappointing 0-5 defeat in their last group tie to Thailand. However, since the top two teams from each group qualify for the quarterfinals, Thailand and India from Group B have qualified for the next round.

In the first tie of the Thomas & Uber Cup, India had defeated Spain 3-2 in a tight contest. Eventually, India overcame Scotland 4-1 in the second tie to seal a quarterfinals berth. Malvika Bansod, who shocked everyone in her match against Spain, was defeated by World No. 10, Pornpawee C of Thailand. She went down 15-21,11-21 but made her opponent work hard for points in the first women's singles match of the day that lasted for 57 minutes.

Later, the experienced Indian pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost to higher-ranked Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand. The Indian duo lost in straight games 21-16, 21-12 in 43 minutes, with the Indian team trailing 0-2 to Thailand.

After going down 0-2 to Thailand, Aditi Bhatt was India's last hope in the event. Ranked 10th in junior women singles, the youngster gave it all to win the match but eventually lost to Busanan Ongbamrungphan, who is ranked 13th in the world. Aditi lost 16-21, 21-18, 15-21 in a highly-competitive match that lasted for 59 minutes.

Though there were still two matches to go, Thailand had already won the tie after this victory.

Youngsters show spark in absence of Saina and Sindhu

In the following match of the women's doubles, the young duo of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly lost to the World No. 22 pair of Sapsiree Taerattanachai and Puttita Supajirakul. Ranked 434 in the world, the Indian duo gave their best, but could not match the level of the experienced Thai duo. They eventually lost 17-21, 16-21 to the in 48 minutes.

Tasnim Mir was the eventual highlight of the tie. The 16-year-old has been significant in her previous matches as well. Facing Supanida Katethong in the last women's singles clash, Tasnim shocked everyone with her play. She lost the first game 19-21 after an all-around display. The youngster started well in the second game and was leading until the change of ends.

However, a series of unforced errors from her loosened the match on her end. She eventually lost 19-21, 15-21 in 40 minutes.

After two successful group ties, the Indian women were not able to win a single match against Thailand. However, the Indian team still finished second on the group table and will now look forward to exhibiting a better performance in the quarterfinals of the Thomas & Uber Cup.

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