The new women's doubles pairing of Shruti Kurian and Aparna Balan was the lone blip in an otherwise great start by India in the biennial Sudirman Cup badminton tournament in Guangzhou, on Monday.
India rolled over Australia 4-1 in their Group 3 (sub-group 3B) opener in their quest for promotion to Group 2. India raced ahead to victory in the first four matches before Kurian and Balan went down.
The mixed doubles pair of V Diju and Jwalla Gutta gave India the lead, defeating Benjamin Walkate and Kate Wilson Smith 21-19, 21-15 in 25 minutes.
Chetan Anand then worked his magic with the shuttle as he dispatched Jeff Tho 21-14, 21-14 in 26 minutes.
India went up 3-0 when the men's doubles pair of Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar needed 27 minutes to defeat Glenn Warfe and Benjamin McCarthy 21-12, 21-15.
With the victory secured, Saina Nehwal turned on her style, giving Leisha Cooper a lesson in badminton as she raced to a 21-11, 21-5 win in just 20 minutes.
Saina registered seven consecutive points in the first game and 12 in the next to make it a no contest. Her powerful smashes were too much for the Aussie as the Indian warmed up for Tuesday's clash against Ukraine.
Chetan, however, took some time to warm up and then took the match away from Tho with his good net play and strong smashes.
The mixed doubles pair and the men's doubles team too didn't have to break much sweat as they coasted to victory.
Kurian and Balan, teaming up for the first time in a major tournament after the former's fallout with regular partner Jwalla Gutta, were not up to scratch as they went down 21-16, 19-21, 18-21 to Eugenia Tanaka and Smith.
