NEW DELHI, May 19 (TNN): It was a short and sweet start for Saina Nehwal. Before you could blink, India's captain set the tone and accounted for Canada's Jocelyn Ko 21-4, 21-12 in less than half an hour at the Siri Fort Complex, where the 2014 Li-Ning BWF Thomas and Uber Cup got underway on Sunday. It was practically a warm-up match for Saina which she agreed to after the game. Her younger compatriot PV Sindhu made it a smooth 2-0 for India. The 18-year-old Sindhu made short work of Rachael Hondreich 21-16, 21-3 in 26 minutes. The doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa gave India an unassailable 3-0 lead. They beat Alex Bruce-Chan Phyllis 21-11, 2112. India won the tie 5-0. Saina and Co. will face their first real test against Hong Kong on Monday.
Purapalli Kashyap-led Indian men, however, had a dismal start to their Thomas Cup campaign, losing to Malaysia 4-1. World No.1 Lee Chong Wei had no issues in quashing Kidambi Srikanth's (No. 18) challenge in the opener 21-19, 21-12. In the doubles that followed, B. Sumeet Reddy and Manu Attri's 14-21, 11-21 defeat to Boon Heong Tan and Thien How Hoon gave Malaysia a decisive 2-0 lead. Kashyap emerged with a mountain to climb against Wei Feng Chong but he was not in his element. He lost the first game 1321 and totally surrendered in the second (6-21). However, RSV Gurusaidutt dug deep into his resources to bring some cheer to the motley Sunday crowd. He ensured that the Indians had some thing to show for their effort when he got the better of Daren Liew 18-21, 21-13, 21-19 to give India one point in the tie.
