Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu squandered a dominant position as India were pushed to the verge of elimination in the Uber Cup even as the men's team stormed into the last-eight of the Thomas Cup with a 5-0 sweep of Australia here on Monday.
Sindhu looked set for a statement win before letting slip a 18-12 lead in the decider to go down 16-21, 21-19, 19-21 to world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi in the opening singles, with India trailing China 0-1 in a must-win Group A tie.
India and China occupy the top spots in the group. The 2022 champions had opened with a 4-1 win over Canada, while China blanked Australia 5-0 and beat Canada 4-1 earlier in the day.
The two sides will clash in their final group tie on Wednesday to decide the group topper.
Paris Olympian and Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen set the tone with a 21-14, 21-16 win over Ephraim Stephen Sam to hand India an early lead.
US Open champion Ayush Shetty, who recently finished runner-up at the Badminton Asia Championships, doubled the advantage with a dominant 21-8, 21-6 victory over Shrey Dhand.
India's top doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the Asian Games champions, made it 3-0, defeating Rizky Hidayat and Jack Yu 21-14, 21-16 to clinch the tie.
HS Prannoy, a bronze medallist at the 2023 World Championships and Asian Games, extended the lead with a 21-11, 21-17 win over Rishi Honda Boopathy in under 30 minutes.
In the second doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R. Arjun outplayed Andika Ramadiansyah and Ephraim Stephen Sam 21-12, 21-10 as India completed a flawless outing without dropping a match.
However, following Sindhu's defeat, it will take a miraculous effort for India to go through to the knockouts.
