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Denmark too good for India

Star-studded Denmark proved too good for India in their opening match of the Thomas Cup Badminton championships in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

The Danes, bidding to become the first European team to lift badminton's biggest prize in its 51-year history, had little difficulty against the Indians, who qualified for the finals after a 12-year gap.

India's faint hopes of winning at least one match against European giants, who were beaten finalists in 1998, rested with their national champion Pullela Gopichand. However, he was no match for world No. 1 Peter Gade Christensen and went down 15-1, 15-6 in just 27 minutes.

Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Lars Paaske then put the Danes 2-0 up, beating Markose Bristow and Vijaydeep Singh 15-6, 15-4 in the doubles, before Hoyer outclassed Nikhil Kanetkar 15-6, 15-7.

Jesper Larsen and Jens Eriksen beat George Thomas and Jaseel Ismail in the fourth rubber, before Kenneth Jonassen got the better of Sidharth Jain.

Agencies