Indian women,put up a fighting display but that was not enough as they went down 0-3 to former champion Japan in the quarter-finals and crashed out of the Uber cup in Chengdu, China on Thursday
The new look Indian team displayed enough
promise and prowess for the future but as of now they are longer in contention in this prestigious tournament.
In the absence of all the experienced campaigners, yet making it to the last eight stage with two convincing wins over Canada and Singapore is a huge shot in the arm for this young girls contingent.
In the opening singles, Ashmita Chaliha saved a match point against World no. 11 Aya Ohori and led 11-9 at the interval in the decider.
Ohori used all her experience to raise the bar immediately after to take five straight points and then went on to wrap the match 21-10, 22-24, 21-15 in an hour and seven minutes.
, “I had lost to her pretty badly in Syed Modi international and I came into the match with a mindset that I have to play my best… In the third game, so made some silly errors after 11-9 and that cost me the match.” admitted Ashmita after defeat.
The world no. 4 combination of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida doubled Japan’s lead with a 21-8, 21-9 victory over national champions Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra.
Isharani Baruah gave a good account of her abilities as she kept pace with former world champion Nozomi Okuhara and even lead 14-11 in the opening game before the experienced Japanese turned the tables by winning 10 of the next 11 points.
The second game went identical to the first as both players stayed neck and neck till 9-9 before Okuhara marched ahead for a 21-15, 21-12 win to seal the quarterfinals in Japan’s favour.
Result: India lost to Japan 0-3 (Ashmita Chaliha lost to Aya Ohori 10-21, 22-20, 15-21; Priya Konjengbam/Shruti Mishra lost to Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida 8-21, 9-21; Isharani Baruah lost to Nozomi Okuhara 15-21, 12-21