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The male Indian badminton team trounced Maldives by 5-0 in their second Group D match played at the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium in Alor Setar, Malaysia. Like in the previous match, the Indian team faced little challenge from their Maldives counterparts.
The World number 5 K Srikanth took on 520th ranked Hussein Zayan Shaheed in the first match. It was an assured performance by the Indian number 1 male shuttler winning game 21-5 and 21-6 to give India a 1-0 lead.
In the second singles, Sai Praneeth took on Ahmed Nibal. The Singapore Open winner dominated the Maldives player winning the match 21-10, 21-4 to give India a 2-0 lead.
Sameer Verma took on Arsalaan Ali in the third match of the tie. The Syed Modi International Champion winner played like a champion winning the match easily by 21-5, 21-1 to give India a commanding 3-0 lead.
Ranki Reddy and Chirag Shetty then took on Maldives' pairing of Shaheed and Shaheem in the fourth match of the tie. The Indian young pair dominated Shaheed and Shaheem winning the first set 21-8. In the second set too, the Indian pair dealt with the Maldives' pair with ease and won with an identical margin of 21-8 to give India a 4-0 lead.
In the final doubles match, MR Arjun and Shlok Ramachandran took on Nibal and Arsalaan Ali. The Indian pair decimated the Maldives pair winning the match 21-2,21-5 to give India a 5-0 whitewash.
India's male team has had an easy outing in both matches against the Philippines and Maldives. The biggest challenge for K Srikanth and his men would be against Indonesia tomorrow.
India will play their toughest match of the group against Indonesia tomorrow. With this win, Indian men’s team qualified for quarter-finals stage. The women’s team also reached the knockout stage.
The Indian women's team will have a tough task against the formidable Japanese side in their last group match tomorrow. With both teams qualified for quarter-finals stage, they would be looking to enter the knockout stage with a win.
