Indonesia 'shuts' India out of the tournament

Doha, Nov 30 (UNI) Indian shuttlers paid heavy price for their wayward display as they suffered their second successive defeat as Indonesia took an unbeatable 4-0 lead against them forcing the South Asian giants to make an early exit from the Badminton team competition of the 15th Asian Games here tonight.

India had lost to China 0-5 in their first league match this morning and then gave an uneven display against Indonesia in the second match in the evening and fell by the way side.

Malaysian challenge was spearheaded by their evergreen star and former World number one Taufiq Hidayat.

Hidayat, the Olympic gold medal winner, was however given a tough fight by Anup Sridhar. The Indian battled it out against his formidable rival but committed grave unforced errors at crucial moments which cost him the match.

Anup matched Hidayat stroke by stroke but could not hold on to his nerves when required. The two fought superbly, dishing out fast and engrossing display of badminton but at the end of 35 minutes, it was the experienced Indonesian who prevailed.

Hidayat won 23-21, 1-16 to give his side 1-0 lead.

The second match, doubles contest between Rupesh Kumar/S Thomas and Mariks Kido/Hendra Setiwan was a tense affair and the Indians have themselves to blame for losing.

Rupesh and Thomas displayed good understanding to win the first set and were leading 8-5 when Thomas failed with his service and then Rupesh committed unforced errors and suddenly the Indians' game disintegrated.

The third seeded pair seized the moment and made it 8-8 and after that never looked back. The Indians gave up without much fight in the third set to lose the match, they should have won, 21-19, 18-21, 21-13 in 32 minutes with the last set ending in just nine minutes.

In the crucial third match of the tie, Parupalli Kashyap let go the golden chance to win the match. He had the match in his grip and rival Simon Santoso at his mercy.

Kashyap won the firs set and led 13-7 in the second before he lost his concentration and grip over the match. Santoso made full use of his rival's tentative display and raced to win the second set and then easily won the third to give his country an unassailable 3-0 lead. Santoso won 15-21,21-13,21-17 in 43 minutes.

In the fourth match, V Diju and S Vihyadhar lost to L Hadiyanto and A Y Chandra 21-19, 19-21, 15-21.

UNI HSB SAM HT2332