CWG 2018 | Indian shuttlers thrash Sri Lanka 5-0 in Team opener

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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The Indian shuttlers put up a show in Gold Coast as they blanked Sri Lanka 5-0 in the Team event of their opening tie in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. After a shaky start that saw Ruthvika Gadde and Pranaav Chopra drop a game, the rest of the team took just two games each to secure the win.

After taking the first game 21-15, it looked like the Indian duo of Gadde and Chopra were well on their way to an easy win against Sachin Dias and Thilini Pramodika Henahewa. However that was far from what the crowd at the Carrara Sports Arena were about to witness. The Sri Lankans came back in the second and led 18-10 before the Indians went on a tear and took nine consecutive points. However, the Sri Lankans, who were ranked 400 places below the Indians took the game to their superior counterparts and took the second game 21-19. In the decider, the underdogs had a chance to take the match but they wasted their match point at 20-19 and then saw the Indians win the next three points to win the match. 

Kidambi Srikanth took the court next and staying true to his nature, he got off to a slow start yet again. But once he got into his groove, there was no way the Sri Lankan was going to put up a challenge. After he claimed the first game 21-16, Srikanth came into his own in the second with his trademark smashes becoming a regularity and Niluka Karunaratne having no answer to any of the questions that were being asked off him. Srikanth only gave away 10 points in the second to make it a 2-0 scoreline for the Indians in the tie.

Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were the next team from India to step onto the court to play against Dinuka Karunaratne and Buwaneka Goonethulleka with the hopes of finishing the tie. And India’s men’s doubles pairing did just that as they beat the Sri Lankan duo in just over 30 minutes by a score of 21-17, 21-14.

But that wasn’t the most convincing win of the tie. Saina Nehwal ensured that she got that done. Saina took just 12 minutes to take the first game as she didn’t allow Madushika Beruwelage to cross the 10 point barrier. The second game was even more dominant and quicker as Saina restricted her opponent, who looked exhausted and defeated by now, to just 3 points and in 10 minutes put India 4-0 up in the event.

With the tie becoming more and more of a formality, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy came in next to face Thilini Pramodika Hendahewa and Kavidi Sirimannage in the women’s doubles category. However, neither the outcome nor the manner of it panned out any differently, as the Indian duo claimed the first game 21-12 in 14 minutes and the second and final game 21-14, which took a minute longer. 

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