Indian shuttlers had a disappointing day as both men's and women's team bowed out of the Thomas and Uber Cup qualifiers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Friday.
Indian men suffered 0-3 humiliation at the hands of superior Malaysia in the quarterfinal round to miss the bus for the Thomas Cup main round, to be held in Jakarta in May.
Their female counterparts were a little better in their 1-3 loss to South Korea, which also meant that they will not make it to Jakarta for the Uber Cup.
Anup Sridhar-led Indian shuttlers were simply no match to the vastly superior Malaysians who were 2-0 up in no time as Arvind Bhat gave a glimpse of fightback before fizzling out.
Sridhar was outclassed 15-21, 14-21 by world number two Lee Chong Wei in just 28 minutes before the doubles duo of Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar received a 9-21, 10-21 drubbing at the hands of Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah in just 22 minutes.
The fightback came unexpectedly from Arvind Bhat who stole a game from higher ranked Wong Choong Hann before going down 16-21, 21-18, 10-21 in a 50-minute contest.
In the Uber Cup quarterfinal match, the script was different with Saina Nehwal giving a flying start to the Indians with a 21-17, 21-12 victory over world number 11 Jun Jae Youn.
{{/usCountry}}In the Uber Cup quarterfinal match, the script was different with Saina Nehwal giving a flying start to the Indians with a 21-17, 21-12 victory over world number 11 Jun Jae Youn.
{{/usCountry}}However, Shruti Kurian and Aparna Balan surrendered the advantage by losing the doubles 13-21, 9-21 against Lee Kyung Won and Lee Hyo Jung.
Indian women still did not lose heart and Aditi Mutatkar began convincingly in the first game against her superior opponent Hwang Hye Youn but fizzle out later to lose the tie 19-21, 5-21.
Up 2-1, the Koreans then went for the kill as their doubles duo of Ha Jung Eun and Kim Min Jung carved out a 21-10, 22-20 win over Saina and Jwala Gutta in the fourth rubber to send India crashing.
Indian men play Singapore tomorrow for the fifth to eighth classification while the womens take on Thailand ion a fifth-eighth classification tie.
Only the top four will make it to main round in Thomas Cup while the first three will book the ticket for Jakarta for the Uber Cup in May.