New Delhi, April 26 (IANS) The young Indian women’s team registered their first win of the Thomas & Uber Cup 2026 by defeating European Championships bronze medallist Ukraine 4-1 in their second Group A clash in Horsens, Denmark, on Sunday.
The team opted to rest former world champion PV Sindhu in singles and gave an opportunity to 2026 Thailand Masters champion Devika Sihag in the third singles.
Unnati Hooda began the proceedings for India with a 21-19, 22-20 win over Polina Buhrova before junior world championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma doubled the lead by beating Yevheniia Kantemyr 21-12, 17-21, 21-10.
Devika then put the result beyond doubt, beating Mariia Stoliarenko 23-21, 21-13.
India’s only reversal came in the first women’s doubles where Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi lost 11-21, 17-21 against Buhrova and Kantemyr before Sindhu and Tanisha Crasto completed the scoreline with a 21-18, 21-15 win over Stoliarenko and Sofiia Lavrova.
The women’s team now faces the formidable China in their last group match on Monday and will have to beat the defending champions to have any chance of advancing to the quarterfinals.
Earlier, former champions Indian men’s team kicked off their campaign with a convincing 4-1 win over Canada while the women went down against European silver medallist Denmark 2-3 in their opening Group clash.
Putting behind Lakshya Sen’s loss against world championships bronze medallist Victor Lai in the first match, all the other Indian players won their respective matches in straight games to get the team one step closer to the quarterfinal spot.
The opening men’s singles between Lakshya Sen and Victor Lai was obviously the match to watch out for as the two had played a marathon encounter in the recently concluded All England Championships where the Indian had come out on top.
On Saturday, Sen started strong as he opened up a 11-5 lead in the opening game and then staved off his opponent to draw first blood. But Lai then grabbed the initiative in the second before the Indian drew level, first at 12-12 and then at 19-19.
However, Sen could not wrap things up in two games and Lai then dominated the third to win 18-21, 21-19, 21-10 in an hour and 11 minutes to give Canada the lead.
Former world no 1 men’s doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then drew level for India with a clinical 21-10, 21-11 win over Jonathan Lai and Kevin Lee.
Asian Championships runners-up Ayush Shetty then put his team ahead by quelling a second game fight back from Brian Yang to win 21-13, 21-17.
The men’s doubles combination of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun then sealed the tie for India with a comfortable 21-7, 21-15 win over Ty Alexander Lindeman and Nyl Yakura.
Kidambi Srikanth then completed the scoreline, beating Joshua Nguyen 21-17, 21-12.
Result:
Women:
India beat Ukraine 4-1 (Unnati Hooda bt Polina Buhrova 21-19, 22-20; Tanvi Sharma bt Yevheniia Kantemyr 21-12, 17-21, 21-10; Devika Sihag bt Mariia Stoliarenko 23-21, 21-13; Kavipriya Selvam/Simran Singhi lost to Buhrova/Kantemyr 11-21, 17-21; Tanisha Crasto/Sindhu bt Sofiia Lavrova/Stoliarenko 21-18, 21-15)
–IANS
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