Commonwealth Games 2022: India’s badminton mixed team thrashes Pakistan 5-0

The Indian badminton mixed team beat Pakistan 5-0 in their opening Group A fixture at the Commonwealth Games 2022.

Kidambi Srikanth was among the shuttlers who helped India win 5-0 over Pakistan. | Photo Credit: AP

India’s badminton mixed team completed a 5-0 sweep against Pakistan in their opening Group A match at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Ashwini Ponnappa and Sumeeth Reddy were the first to take court in the mixed doubles fixture. The Indian duo sailed through their game and won 21-9 21-12., giving India a 1-0 lead.

Kidambi Srikanth followed up with a 21-7 21-12 win over Murad Ali in the men’s singles fixture to double India’s advantage in the tie.

P.V. Sindhu in action against Pakistan’s Mahoor Shahzad.

The third fixture offered more of India’s domination as P.V. Sindhu pulled off a comfortable 21-7 21-6 win over Mahoor Shahzad. Sindhu’s victory gave India a 3-0 lead and assured the take home the fixture.

Having secured the win, India’s men’s doubles pair of Rakiraddy and Shetty took the court. The duo completed a straight set 21-12 21-9 win over Pakistan’s pair of Muhammad Bhatti and Murad Ali.

The last fixture of the tie saw the women’s doubles team of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand beat their opponents 21-4 21-5 to complete the sweep.

The Indian team completed the win without dropping a game, winning a total of 210 points and conceding just 83.

India will now face Sri Lanka and Australia on July 30 in their second and third Group A encounters. The top two teams from the group will make their way to the quarterfinals.