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Indian eves upset Hong Kong

February 19, 2004 13:43 IST


Indian eves came up with a domineering performance to upset third seed Hong Kong 4-1 in the league encounter of the Uber Cup (preliminaries) Asia Zone badminton tournament at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday.

The Indians, led by national champion Aparna Popat, made the 2002 Uber Cup bronze medallist look mediocre through out the tie to come within striking distance for a berth in the finals to be held at Jakarta, Indonesia in May.

The Indians now have two wins from three encounters and will take on hosts Malaysia in the final league encounter to decide the second team to qualify for the semi finals from Group A.

Strong contenders Japan have won all the three league matches and are favourites to maintain their perfect record against Hong Kong tomorrow.

All the four semi finalists would join host Indonesia and defending champions China in the finals.

The Indians were given a flying start by Popat, who has not lost a single match so far, thrashing Wan Ting Ling 11-3, 11-6.

The 1998 Commonwealth Games silver medallist took full advantage of the absence of World no. 4 Wang Chen, who opted out due to injury, to put India in the driver's seat in just 18 minutes.

The experienced B R Meenakshi then crushed Ng Ka-Shuu 11-1, 11-5 in just within 25 minutes to increase the lead to 2-0.

The result was confirmed beyond doubt when Trupti Murgunde stepped on to the court to send Yip Pui-Yin packing 11-9, 11-2 in 32 minutes.

But the 'dead rubber' syndrome seemed to catch up with the Indians in the first doubles as the pair of Shruti Kurien and Jwala Gutta surrendered to Koon Wai Chee and Li Wing Mui 6-15, 12-15.

Former national champion Manjusha Kanwar then ensured that the Indians signed off in style as she teamed up with Fatima Nazneen to beat Wan Ting Ling and Mau Cheng Wang 15-5, 15-10 and complete the scoreline.

India stun Hong Kong in Uber Cup qualifiers

Agence France-Presse

Kuala Lumpur, February 19

Hong Kong were sent crashing out of qualifiers for badminton's Uber Cup after an upset defeat against India on Thursday.

India romped to a 4-1 victory and will now play hosts Malaysia for a place in the May finals as Hong Kong, bronze medallists at the 2002 championships in Guangzhou, self-destructed.

Hong Kong, who had already suffered a 3-2 defeat to Malaysia earlier this week, were always struggling in the absence of several key players including the injured singles star Wang Chen.

A win would have put Hong Kong in with a chance of qualifying for the finals of the prestigious team tournament, regarded as the World Cup of badminton. Instead Hong Kong will only be playing for pride against Japan on Friday.

Aparna Popat, a silver medallist at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, gave India a winning start when she defeated Ling Wang-ting 11-3, 11-6 in just 18 minutes.

Meenakshi BR then stepped onto court to defeat Ng Ka-shu 11-1, 11-5 to give India a 2-0 lead. Murgunde Trupti made sure of India's win by winning 11-9,11-2 in just over half an hour against Yip Pui-yin.

Though the Hong Kong pair of Koon Wai Chee and Li Wing-mui defeated Kurian Shruti and Jwala Gutta 15-6, 15-12 it was merely a blip.

Nazneen Fatim and Kanwar Manjunsha defeated Ling Wan-ting and Wang Mau-cheng 15-5, 15-10.

"It was a good win and now we look forward to our match against Malaysia tomorrow with renewed confidence," said Aparna who will take on SEA Games gold medallist Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia in the opening singles tie.

"There is everything to play for and that alone is motivation for us."

In the other early Uber Cup match Thursday, Malaysia went through the paces and defeated Macau 5-0.

In the Thomas Cup men's event, Iran defeated Macau 5-0 while Taiwan registered the same margin of victory over Vietnam.

Aparna Popat gave India a winning start in the Uber Cup badminton qualifying match against Hong Kong(AFP/File/Manny Ceneta)

Where is Gopichand now? It think he is still good to play for the national team?

i'm guess gopi is resting from his injuries.