TUC 2026: Indian women go down 0-5 against China in final Group A tie

The Indian women's team came up with a spirited performance against defending champions China in their final Group A clash of the Thomas & Uber Cup 2026 in Horsens, Denmark, on Monday night, but could not avoid a 0-5 loss. Facing a must-win situation to stay in the hunt for a quarterfinal berth, former world champion PV Sindhu returned to play the first singles and had her chances against world no 2 Wang Zhi Yi, according to a release. Sindhu led Wang for most of the third game and even opened up an 18-12 lead in the decider. The Chinese then took seven consecutive points to take the lead and wrapped up the match a couple of points later.

India's other two singles players, Isharani Baruah and Devika Sihag, also built pressure on their much-fancied Chinese opponents but could not carve out a win. Isharani lost to former Olympic Champion Chen Yu Fei 20-22, 13-21, while Devika went down 21-19, 17-21, 10-21 against Xu Wen Jing.

India's scratch women's doubles combination of Tanisha Crasto and Kavipriya Selvam raised hopes of winning a point when they took the opening game against Luo Xu Min and Zhang Shu Xian, but ended on the losing side of a 10-21, 21-12, 21-19 score line. India had lost their first group game against Denmark 2-3 and then blanked Ukraine 5-0.

Result:

Women: India lost to China 0-5 (PV Sindhu lost to Wang Zhi Yi 16-21, 21-19, 19-21; Priya Konjengbam/Shruti Mishra lost to Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning 11-21, 8-21, Isharani Baruah lost to Chen Yu Fei 20-22, 13-21; Tanisha Crasto/Kavipriya Selvam lost to Luo Xu Min/Zhang Shu Xian 21-10, 12-21, 19-21; Devika Sihag lost to Xu Wen Jing 21-19, 17-21, 10-21)