VANTAA (Finland): Already out of the quarterfinal race, India beat Finland 4-1 in their inconsequential final group match of the Sudirman Cup badminton tournament on Wednesday.
The mixed doubles pair of MR Arjun and Ashwini Ponnappa beat the Finnish duo of Anton Kaisti and Jenny Nystrom 21-9 21-14 before Kidambi Srikanth and Malvika Bansod got the better of their respective opponents in the men's and women's singles.
Srikanth beat Kalle Koljonen 16-21 21-14 21-11, while Malvika won 21-16 21-11 against Nella Nyqvist.
The men's doubles pair of Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, however, lost to Kaisti and Jesper Paul 20-22 19-22 before Tanisha Crasto and Rutaparna Panda beat Mathilda Lindholm and Jenny Nystrom 21-12 21-13 in the women's doubles.
Competing without their star players, the Indians had ended their chances to qualify for the knockout stage after suffering a heavy 0-5 defeat against formidable China on Monday. The Indians had earlier lost their Group A opener against Thailand.
The absence of double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, London Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and the men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy hurt India's prospect as the team cut a sorry figure in the tournament.
