India loses, but qualifies

On paper this was an upset considering India was seeded 8, one above Malaysia. Both teams seemed equally balanced but Malaysian players showed the ability to win the big points in the end. 

The matches went very close and in the end, it was a case of victory being close but just eluding India. It started with the first match where India’s number one player Saurav Ghosal ran the Malaysian opponent Nafiizwan Adnan close till the last. 

In fact, Ghosal had led 2-1 at one stage but let go the advantage. Then in the decisive fifth game, he led 9-6 just two points away from victory but lost the plot there. Ghosal lost 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 9-11.

Mahesh Mangaonkar, who came next, played with a lot of control particularly after dropping the first game against Mohd Syafiq Kamal. The Malaysian left hander looked nippy in his movement and made the most of the first game. But unluckily for him, he developed a niggle in right knee and even took a three-minute injury break.