Mon, Oct 04 10 06:57 PM
Amit Kumar Das New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) Ace shuttlers Chetan Anand and Saina Nehwal led from the front as India took less than an hour to inflict a humiliating 5-0 defeat on Kenya in a lopsided match of the preliminary stage of Group D in the badminton mixed team event of the Commonwealth Games at Siri Fort here today. Chetan started the proceedings for India, streamrolling Victor Odera Munga 21-7 21-13 in 14 minutes in men''s singles, while Saina then swelled the lead to 2-0 with a thumping win over Joseph Mercy Mwethya 21-11 21-4 in the women''s singles in just 11 minutes. Indian men''s doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas then zoomed past Victor Munga and Patrik Kibet 21-5 21-5 to hand the home team an easy win over the African outfit in 12 minutes. With the last two matches becoming redundant, Aparna Balan clubbed with Aswini Ponnappa and took another 11 minutes to teach the Kenyans a lesson in badminton during their 21-8 21-6 win over Joseph and Anitah Bushuru in the women''s doubles. Mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju then spanked Anna Njambi Ng''ang''a and Frederick Choube 21-8 21-5 in another 11-minute match as India wrapped up a 5-0 win over Kenya in just 59 minutes. Opening the innings for India, Chetan quickly moved to 2-0 and then soon zoomed to 8-2. Victor was simply no match for the lanky Indian as he pocketed six straight points to move from 11-6 to 17-6 before wrapping it up at 21-7. The next game, Victor tried to make a match but he didn''t even come near to posing any threat and was soon sidelined by the smashing Chetan. "It was an easy match, on expected lines. Hope to reach finals, lets see what happens," he said. Saina, who conceded two game points to Mercy when she was 20-9 before wrapping it up in quick time, also felt that India should ideally reach the finals. "It was an easy match. There are a little wind in the stadium and the shuttles are a little different then Asian Badminton Championship. Team match is a good way to warm up for the singles. I hope we reach the quarterfinals. Hopefully we will play Canada in quarters and England in Semis," she said. Jwala-Diju also had a field day as they never looked in trouble. "It was a comfortable match to start with but it would get difficult as the tournament progresses. Finals should be on the cards for the team," Jwala said. In the other matches, New Zealand beat Jamaica 5-0, while earlier in the morning session, Malaysia beat Isle of Man 5-0, Australia defeated seychelles 5-0, Singapore thrashed Nigeria 5-0 and Canada beat Uganda 5-0.
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