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Thomas Cup 2021: India sweeps Netherlands 5-0 in opening match

02:02 PM Oct 11, 2021 | Team Udayavani |

The Indian men’s badminton team blanked lower-ranked Netherlands 5-0 in its opening Group C tie to make a winning start at the Thomas Cup Final here.

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Taking the court first, Kidambi Srikanth beat Joran Kweekel 21-12, 21-14 in a men’s singles clash on Sunday night before the doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty sailed past the Dutch pair of Ruben Jille and Ties van der Lecq 21-19, 21-12 to hand India a 2-0 advantage.

World championship bronze-medallist B Sai Praneeth then demolished Robin Mesman 21-4, 21-12 in just 27 minutes in the second singles match to give India an unassailable 3-0 lead.

MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila next defeated Andy Buijk and Brian Wassink 21-12, 21-13 in the second doubles tie before Sameer Verma made the clean sweep, beating Gijs Duijs 21-6, 21-11 in the third and final singles match.

Earlier on Sunday, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was forced to retire midway through her opening match but India’s young women’s team produced a clinical display to notch up a fine 3-2 win over Spain in the Uber Cup Final.

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India’s men’s team will next play another weak opponent in Tahiti in the Thomas Cup on Tuesday, while the country’s women shuttlers will be up against Scotland.

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