Sudirman Cup 2023: India face defeat in tournament opener against Chinese Taipei

Suzhou [China], May 14 : Indian badminton players faced defeat in their opening Group C tie against Chinese Taipei by 1-4 in the Sudirman Cup 2023 at Suzhou on Sunday.

In the mixed doubles match of the tie, Indian shuttlers Sai Pratheek and Tsha Crasto faced off against Yang po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang but lost by 21-18, 24-26, and 6-21.

Chinese Taipei gained a 1-0 lead in the tie. However, India gave a strong fight, and even won their first set. The second set was very close but India lost at the end as China outplayed them to win by 21-6 in the third set.

India's star player HS Prannoy displayed a disappointing show as he lost to Chou Tien Chen in straight two sets 19-21, 15,21. With this, Chinese Taipei went up 2-0 in the tie.

Olympic medalist PV Sindhu also lost her game against former world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying in three sets 14-21, 21-18, 17-21. Chinese Taipei clinched an unassailable lead of 3-0 with this win.

Recent Badminton Asia Champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty failed to re-create their magic and were downed by Lee Yang and Ye Hong Wei by 13-21, 21-17, 18-21. India was down by 4-0 at this point.

Indian Women's Doubles shuttler Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela were the only players to secure one win for India. They won their game by 15-21, 21-18 and 21-13 against the pair of Lee Chia Hsin and Teng Chun Hsun. The tie finished with a scoreline of 1-4, in favour of Chinese Taipei.

After losing their opening game, India will look to fight back in their second match against Malaysia on Monday.