NEW DELHI: India continued their relentless march in the mixed team event of badminton as they blanked Canada 3-0 to make it to the semifinals at the Siri Fort Stadium on Thursday.
The second seeds now take on England, 3-1 winners over Scotland.
Top seeds Malaysia, who drubbed New Zealand 3-0, will meet Singapore in the other last-four clash. Singapore downed Australia 3-1.
But for a brief period during the men's singles, the hosts had it easy. After the mixed doubles pair of Valiyaveetil Diju and Jwala Gutta trounced Toby and Grace 21-8, 21-12, Chetan Anand was made to struggle by David Snider.
Chetan got off to a good start and was leading at 11-8 at the break. But he conceded the lead at 12-13, and looked lost. Till he picked himself up and clinched the first game with a slender margin (21-18). Chetan started well in the second game and at one stage was leading 15-6, but Snider rallied and scored 10 points on-the-trot to move to 16-15.
The experienced Indian had to delve deep to stop the Canadian's surge by clinching three consecutive points at this crucial stage.
"Once I secured that big lead in the second game I took it easy. I should not have done that," Chetan conceded.
Later, world No.3 Saina Nehwal tamed Anna Rice in straight games (21-16, 21-13) as India marched into the semifinals without losing a single game in the quarters.
No comments:
Post a Comment