India off to a disappointing start to Thomas Cup Finals

New Delhi :

Arvind Bhat pulled off a stunner while P Kashyap played his heart out but still couldn't save India from succumbing to a 1-4 defeat against Indonesia in their first Group D match of the Thomas Cup Finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Monday.
     
Highest ranked Indian singles player Kashyap almost gave his side a stunning start by winning the first game 21-14 against formidable Taufik Hidayat before losing the next two 19-21 18-21 in a marathon match that last over an hour.
    
Sanave Thomas and Akshay Dewalkar, however, got the thrashing at the hands of Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan 11-21 13-21 in just 21 minutes in the second match.
    
Arvind brought some smiles back into the Indian camp when he bounced back from a game down to defeat Sony Dwi Kuncoro 19-21 21-9 21-0 in a 31-match battle.
    
Trailing 1-2, a lot was expected from Rupesh Kumar and V Diju but they couldn't restore parity and went down 21-14 13-21 11-21 to Alvent Yulianto Chandra and Hendra Aprida Gunawan.
    
In the last singles, Anup Sridhar lost 8-21 17-21 to Simon Santoso to end a disappointing day for India.
    
India play Australia in their second Group D match on Tuesday.