India lost to Malaysia 2-3 in their opening Group-1D Badminton match of Sudirman Cup Mixed Team Championship, at Nanning in China today. Ace shuttler PV Sindhu in Women’s Singles and the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in Mixed Doubles won their matches.
However, Sameer Verma in Men’s Singles, the duo of B. Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri in Men’s Doubles and the team of Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy in Women’s Doubles went down against the Malaysian shuttlers. India will play 10-time champions China in a must-win tie tomorrow.
Malaysia were thrashed by China in the opening game on Sunday. The 13-member Indian team, seeded eighth this time, comprises of PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and Ashwini Ponnappa among others.