Top seeds India crushed defending champions Malaysia 3-1 to win their first Commonwealth Games mixed team badminton gold at the Carrara Sports Centre 2 on Monday..
Despite being seeded second in Gold Coast the Malaysians were still the favourites to win their fourth consecutive gold in the event. They won in Melbourne (2006), New Delhi (2010) and Glasgow (2014).
However, nothing went right for the Malaysians when Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying, the Rio Olympics silver medallists, were sent reeling to a 21-14, 15-21, 21-15 defeat by Satwik Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponnappa in a 65-minute match.
There was more to come from the Indians in the men’s singles. Former world No 1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei was expected to haul Malaysia from the setback. Instead the 35-year-old Chong Wei was packed off in straight games 21-17, 21-14 in 43 minutes by India’s current world No 2 K. Srikanth.
It was all the more hurting for Chong Wei who had beaten Srikanth in his previous four meetings. But on Monday it was a different story from Srikanth who won four Superseries titles last year – driven by confidence. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
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