Star stuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu suffered contrasting defeats as India were knocked out of the Sudirman Cup badminton tournament after suffering an embarrassing 0-5 loss to Malaysia in their second Group C match in Suzhou on Monday.
A day after losing 1-4 to Chinese Taipei, India produced yet another listless show against Commonwealth Games champions Malaysia to bow out of the world mixed team championships at the group stage for the second successive time.
In the last edition at Vantaa, Finland, India also couldn't make it to the knockout stage.
While Srikanth was too erratic in men's singles contest, Sindhu showed great fightback in the decider after squandering an opening game advantage only to go down in the end to World No. 30 Goh Jin Wei.
It was always going to be a tough ask for Dhruv Kapila and Ashwini Ponnappa to outwit the world no. 8 pair of Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie but the Indian combination tried their heart out before losing 16-21 17-21 in 35 minutes.
An error-prone Srikanth then couldn't get India's campaign back on track, going down 16-21, 11-21 to world no. 8 Lee Zii Jia in a lop-sided men's singles contest.
World No. 12 Sindhu then erased a 2-11 deficit in the third game but failed to go the distance, losing 21-14, 10-21, 20-22 to Goh in women's singles as India conceded a 0-3 lead to Malaysia in the five-match tie.
"It is a bit disappointing. In the third game, I was trailing by 8 points but I came back. Coming so close and losing those two points was very disappointing," Sindhu said.
"The momentum was not there in the second game. I was making mistakes, whatever I was playing, it was going to the net or out. In the third game, I should have maintained a lead from start but I gave her a huge lead. There were unforced errors and it made a huge difference."
Sindhu said she "came into rhythm after few points" in the decider.
"At 20-20, I felt there should have been a bit more rallies. My strokes hit my frame and went mid court and she finished it off.
"After 20-all, it was anybody's game because you can make mistakes, there are lot of pressure, you are nervous, you want to keep the shuttle in the court, you want to score a point, there are a lot of mixed emotions."
In the last two matches, world no. 5 Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost 18-21, 19-21 to Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in men's doubles, while Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly went down 15-21, 13-21 as India drew a blank.
Following the loss, India finished at third spot in the group with Chinese Taipei and Malaysia ending as the top two teams to qualify for the quarter-finals.
India will take on Australia in their final Group C match on Wednesday.
Coming into the match with a 4-0 head-to-head count, Sindhu managed a healthy 11-5 lead at the break with her opponent committing too many unforced errors. Soon she was up 19-9 as Goh struggled.
The Malaysian picked up five straight points before a deceptive return took Sindhu to 20-14. Goh sent the shuttle out again as Sindhu took the first game.
However, Goh looked a completely different player after the change of ends as she had a dream start, leading 5-1.
Sindhu managed to claw back at 6-7 but Goh went into the break with a 11-6 cushion.
It was one way traffic thereafter as Sindhu looked clueless and just couldn't keep the shuttle inside the court. Goh eventually made a roaring comeback after converting 10 game points to take the match to the decider.
The 23-year-old had a flying start to the third game, grabbing a massive 7-0 lead after Sindhu's lifts repeatedly went long. Three more wide shots from the Indian and the Malaysian held a decisive 11-2 cushion at the interval.
Sindhu then scripted a remarkable turnaround, winning 12 of the next 15 points to zoom to 14-15 before drawing parity at 19-19 with a precise return at the backline. A quick return to serve earned Goh the match point but she hit long next to make it 20-20.
Goh then produced two good shots, the second one a back hand cross court return away from the reach of the Indian to seal the contest.
Last week, Srikanth had hired an Indonesian coach to help him ramp up his game in the run-up to next year's Paris Olympics.
The qualification period for the 2024 Olympics began from May 1 and Srikanth, who has been struggling with form, has availed the services of Wiempie Mahardi to help him train.
"I have been trying to get a coach since December 2021, when Agus left. Now I have an Indonesian coach Wiempie Nahardi. I met him when I went to Indonesia to train for three weeks. He came to India in last week of April," former world number one Srikanth told PTI.
India are yet to appoint a foreign coach for men's singles players since the abrupt departure of Indonesia's Agus Dwi Santoso in December 2021. After PV Sindhu parted ways with Park Tae Sang in February, the Korean has been helping out the men's singles players.
A former world top 25 player, Mahardi has more than 10 years of coaching experience, having trained players in different clubs across countries.
