The Indian women’s badminton team settled for a bronze medal after suffering a 0-3 defeat at the hands of defending champions China in the semi-finals of the Uber Cup badminton championship in Kunshan, China on Friday.
Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu lost their singles matches while Jwala Gutta and Sikki Reddy went down without a fight in their doubles fixture. The 3-0 lead in the best-of-five tie was enough for China to seal a berth in the final. India will have to settle with a bronze, the second time they have won it in the history of the women's team tournament.
World No. 3 Xuerui’s 21-15, 12-21, 21-17 triumph in an hour and four minutes over Saina decimated Indian dreams at the Kunshan Sports Centre.In the next contest, double World Championship bronze medallist P.V. Sindhu lost to world No. 6 Wang Shixian 13-21, 21-23 in 50 minutes as China took a 2-0 lead.
Former world No.1 Shixian now holds a 6-4 lead in head-to-head record against Sindhu. World No. 4 doubles pair of Qing Tian and Yunlei Zhao took just 25 minutes to brush aside the Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and N. Sikki Reddy 21-6, 21-6. This win sealed China’s spot in the Uber Cup final for the 17th consecutive time.