Birmingham, July 30:
Indian shuttlers dished out another splendid show to outclass Sri Lanka 5-0 in their second group A match of the mixed team competition at the 22nd Commonwealth Games here on Saturday.
India were by far the better team on display as they completely dominated the proceedings at the Arena Birmingham.
A day after blanking Pakistan 5-0, India notched up another convincing win to go top of group A and qualify for the quarterfinals with one tie still remaining in the league stage of the competition.
India made a strategic decision to split the mixed and men’s doubles pairing as Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were back together for the opening match.
The former world number 19 pair looked rusty initially before getting past Sachin Dias and Thilini Hendahewa 21-14 21-9 to put India 1-0 ahead.
World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen, who is playing his first match after recovering from a shoulder injury, prevailed 21-18 21-5 over veteran Niluka Karunatne, who has competed at the Olympics in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
Akarshi Kashyap, who had made it to the team after topping the selection trials in April, went past Vidara Suhasni Vidanage 21-3 21-9 in the women’s singles to hand India an unassailable 3-0 lead.(PTI)
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