Indian women’s journey in the 2026 Uber Cup came to a close as they were defeated by defending champions China in their final Group A match. Despite a valiant effort, India suffered a 0-5 loss against China. The team needed a win to advance to the quarterfinals, with former world champion PV Sindhu leading the charge in the singles match against Wang Zhi Yi.
Sindhu displayed a strong performance, leading for most of the third game and even holding an 18-12 advantage in the decider. However, Wang staged a remarkable comeback, scoring seven consecutive points to secure the victory. India’s other singles players, Isharani Baruah and Devika Sihag, also put up a fight against their Chinese opponents but were unable to secure wins.
In the singles matches, Isharani was defeated by former Olympic Champion Chen Yu Fei with a score of 20-22, 13-21, while Devika faced a tough loss of 21-19, 17-21, 10-21 against Xu Wen Jing. The Indian women’s doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Kavipriya Selvam showed promise by winning the opening game but ultimately lost to Luo Xu Min and Zhang Shu Xian with a score of 10-21, 21-12, 21-19.
India had previously lost to Denmark 2-3 in their first group game and then secured a 5-0 victory against Ukraine. In the previous edition of the Thomas & Uber Cup in 2024, held in Chengdu, the Indian women’s team, which had won bronze in 2014 and 2016, was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Japan.
