BWF Uber Cup: Indian women’s team dream ends after loss to Japan in quarterfinals

The Indian women badminton team’s run at the BWF Uber Cup ended on Thursday after a stinging loss to Japan in their quarterfinal match.

Aya Ohori gave Japan a 1-0 lead when she got the better of youngster Ashmita Chaliha 21-10, 20-22, 21-15 while the inexperienced doubles pair of Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra went down to Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 21-8, 21-9 soon after.

The onus was on Isharani Baruah to help India stage a comeback, but Nozomi Okuhara, one of the best in business, was no match for the Indian. Okuhara won the second singles match 21-15, 21-12 to give Japan an unassailable 3-0 lead and a spot in the semifinals.

Chaliha was found wanting on many occasions and struggled to find rhythm right from the word go. Although she was beaten 21-10 in the first game, the Indian pulled up her socks, stepped on the gas pedal, and won the second game 22-20 to force the decider.

The decider did start in India’s favour, with Chaliha putting up a slender lead but she failed to capitalise on it and with Ohori, an Asian Games medalist and ranked 11 in the world, came up with a superior game plan to derail Chaliha’s run.

Although the lead at the mid-game interval was just two points (11-9), the Japanese then came all guns blazing to win five points on the trot to take the game away from the Indian.

In the first doubles tie of the match, Shruti and Priya, who are the national champions, couldn’t pose any challenge to a marauding Matsuyama and Shida. The Indian doubles pair couldn’t put a foot right and lost the game in straight games, managing only single digit score line in the match.

Baruah, who was facing an uphill task to force a win against a former World No. 1, found it too daunting and lost the match, and ended India’s hopes of a fine run in the Uber Cup. Baruah took a 14-11 lead in the first game but the experienced Japanese shuttler 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.

The Indian women team’s BWF Uber Cup campaign started with wins against Canada and Singapore in the group stages before losing to China in their last group stage match. The two wins helped India sail to the quarterfinals but ran into an unstoppable Japan to end their dream.