Badminton

Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist and reigning world champion, outclassed her opponent Jakobsen 21-15, 21-18 in the first round match. She will next face Line Christophersen of Denmark at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris. The world No 10 pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also progressed to the men's doubles round of 16 after beating Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan 18-21, 21-17, 21-13.

However, India suffered a setback as Kidambi Srikanth could not progress beyond the second round in men's singles, going down to top seed and World No 1 Kento Momota after putting up a tough fight in the first game. Srikanth lost 21-23, 9-21 to the Japanese star in a match that lasted 43 minutes. Sindhu, playing her first tournament since winning the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympic Games in August.

Nehwal, a bronze medallist from the London 2012 Olympics, struggled to find her rhythm and suffered a 16-21, 14-21 loss against the Japanese opponent, who took 34 minutes to wrap up the match. PV Sindhu, the other Indian in women's singles, had advanced to the second round after winning her opening round match on Tuesday.

In the Thomas Cup, India had finished second behind China in their group and thus faced a tough opponent in Denmark. Though on paper, India had the ammunition to beat Denmark but it all depended on the singles players -- Kidambni Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth.

In the first match of the quarter-final tie, Malvika Bansod lost her match to world number five Akane Yamaguchi 12-21, 17-21. Then the pair of Tanisha Carsto and Rutaparna Panda went down against Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto 8-21, 10-21 and this gave Japan a 2-0 lead in the encounter.Aditi Bharat later lost her match against Sayaka Takahashi.

With both India and China qualifying for the quarter-finals, the match was important to decide who tops the group and thus plays a comparatively weaker opponent. China, as expected, clinched the first position in the group and they did not with consummate ease barring the lone hiccup in the men's doubles.

The Indian team, without Saina Nehwal who has been sidelined to an injury, put up a valiant fight before losing to fourth seed Thailand. It was the first loss for Indian women in the tournament after beating Spain (3-2) and Scotland (4-1). Having already sealed their place in the quarter-finals, the match against Thailand was to determine the table-topper in Group B of the competition.

With Saina still to recover from the groin injury she suffered during India's opening match against Spain, Malvika Bansod played the first singles but found World No. 26 Kirsty Gilmour too strong an opponent. The 104-ranked Malvika went down 12-21, 9-21 in just 39 minutes. Saina had retired after losing the first game to Spain's Clara Azurmendi on Sunday.

Though not a lot is forthcoming on the former World No.1's injury, Saina is likely to be rested for the next match against minnows Scotland in an Uber Cup preliminary round match on Tuesday. The Indian women's team is in a four-team group with Thailand, Spain, and Scotland as other members.

With the team returning to full strength with the return of the top doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth back to form following a few disappointments in the Sudirman Cup, India cruised to victory on Sunday night. Srikanth set the ball rolling by handing Joran Kweekel a 21-12, 21-14 defeat in the match played on Sunday night.