India off to poor start in Thomas, Uber Cups

Bangkok: India’s young but depleted men and women’s teams jeopardised their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage after suffering an identical 1-4 loss to France and Canada in the opening Group A match of the Thomas and Uber Cup Final in Bangkok on Sunday.

The Indian men’s team paid the price for not fielding world No. 9 H.S. Prannoy and the doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, as the young-and-inexperienced team proved no match for their French counterparts, who were ranked lower.

World No. 18 B. Sai Praneeth gave India a positive start, defeating Brice Leverdez 21-7 21-18 to take a 1-0 lead, but none of the other players could step up when it mattered.