India begin Uber Cup campaign with 5-0 thrashing of Australia

The Indian women's badminton team made a strong start to its Uber Cup campaign, thrashing Australia 5-0 in a group stage match here on Monday.

The Indian girls were in total domination from the start and whitewashed the Aussies, winning the three singles and the two doubles matches in their Group D match. In terms of points, India collected 211 against 121.

World No.8 Saina Nehwal began the rout for India, beating No.74 Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen 22-20, 21-14 in 36 minutes.

World No.10 P.V. Sindhu then easily defeated 17-year-old No.78 Joy Lai in 25 minutes to make it 2-0 in their favour, claiming a 21-12, 21-11 victory.

Doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa conquered Hsuan-Yu Wendy and Gronya Somerville 21-9, 21-15 in only 28 minutes to make it 3-0.

World No.113 Ruthvika Shivani Gadde crushed Tiffany Ho 21-5, 21-11 in 25 minutes in the third singles match.

In the final contest, N. Sikki Reddy and Sindhu claimed a 21-12, 21-12 win over Leanne Choo and Joy Lai to complete the whitewash.

India, bronze medallist in the previous edition held in 2014 in New Delhi, next face Germany on Tuesday at the Kunshan Sports Center Stadium. India should be able to outplay the Germans as the European nation doesn't boast of players inside the top-25 world ranking in both the singles and doubles categories.

--IANS

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