Give away 2-0 advantage to lose to Japan 2-3; setlle for bronze
India wasted a 2-0 high provided by Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu in first two singles matches to lose their Uber cup semi-final match to Japan.With this loss, India had to settle for a first-ever bronze medal. India on Thursday had defeated Indonesia to make an entry into semi-final for the first time.
Saina and Sindhu had provided a 2-0 advantage to lead against Minatsu Mitani and Sayaka Takahashi but the loss of the doubles pair of Jwala-Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa tilted the match in favour of Japan, who had a world No 16 Eriko Hirose waiting to be pitted against world No 65 PC Thulasi and a formidable world No 4 doubles pair of Miyuki Maeda-Reika Kakiiwa in line against Saina-Sindhu in the remaining two matches.
In Friday's tie played at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here, Saina dominated Minatsu from the start, forcing her to trail all the time. Unlike Thursday's match during which she went through a bad start, the world No 8 Indian managed to have the upper-hand against the world No 12. A lead of 11-5 lead in the first game's break time helped her consolidate her lead till 21-12.
The first game win gave her enough confidence to up the ante in the second one. That followed the smashing winners to which Minatsu had no answers. Saina completed the formalities at 21-13 to give India a 1-0 advantage.later, Sindhu found the going tough against Sayaka. It seemed that the 84-minute encounter that she had won on Thursday had taken a toll on her. The world No. 11 was slower in her responses to the sharp winners and failed to lift Sayaka's drop shots several times.
She dropped the first game 19-21 and was looking patchy in her performance. But she fought her way back, relying more on her placements. She also got some help from Sayaka's unforced errors.However, Sindhu started the third game on a bright note, racing to an 8-3 lead. But again, inconsistency creeped in and she conceded eight points at a stretch. Momentum swing in her favour saw her collecting seven points on the trot to go 17-13 up, before she allowed Sayaka to equalise.later, Sayaka saved four match points while Sindhu saved one. The rubber ended at 26-24 in favour of Sindhu after 72 minutes.
Jwala-Ashwini lost the third match 12-21, 22-20, 16-21 to world No 3 pair of Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi."I should have played with more positivity. I was at the wrong end of both strategy and the tactical side. Ashwini was in great form and she played really well. I should have given her more openings which I usually do. But today I didn't play well," Jwala said.
This defeat was flowed by another loss as Thulasi went down 14-21, 15-21 to Eriko. That result made it 2-2 in favour of Japan, making the game alive for the second doubles match.The Saina-Sindhu pair was against Miyuki-Reika which they lost 14-21, 11-21. The Indian pair was no match for the organised and tactically superior world No 4 Japanese pair.In other semi-final clash of the Uber Cup, Malaysia thrashed Indonesia 3-0 to set up a title clash against Japan to be played on Sunday.