The Indian men’s badminton team won the Thomas Cup with a 3-0 victory over defending champions Indonesia in the final here on Sunday.
Victories by Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in doubles, and former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth helped India win the coveted trophy, the most prestigious title in men’s team badminton.
The Indian men had previously reached the Thomas Cup semi-finals in 1952, 1955, and 1979, while Indonesia is the tournament’s most successful nation, having won 14 titles.
The high-flying Indian team began their first Thomas Cup final tie at the Impact Arena with world championship bronze medalist Lakshya Sen, ranked ninth in the badminton world rankings, facing world No. 4 and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Anthony Ginting. Sen had a 1-0 head-to-head advantage, having defeated Ginting at the German Open in March. However, the 20-year-old Indian had only won once and lost three times in the ongoing Thomas Cup.
The young Indian went toe-to-toe with the Indonesian early on, but Ginting switched gears to win 12 straight points and easily win the first game in just 17 minutes.
The momentum was with Ginting in the second game, who was playing on the more advantageous side of the court, against the drift, and brimming with confidence, but India’s top-ranked Sen responded well and upped his pace and attack to win the second game and force a decider.
Despite falling behind in the first half of the third game, Lakshya dug deep to produce some brilliant winners and match Ginting’s flawless net game. Sen eventually won 8-21, 21-17, 21-16, putting India ahead in the tie.
Following that, the doubles team of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sukamuljo to put India firmly in control.
After losing the first game, Chirag-Satwik came back with a herculean effort in the second, saving three match points to win and send the match to a decider. The Indians led early in the decider, but Ahsan and Sukamuljo levelled at 11-11 and took the lead. But nothing could separate the two teams as they drew level again at 17-17.
After surviving four match points in the second game, Rankireddy and Shetty finally had their first match point opportunity, but Ahsan smashed the Indonesians to safety. However, on the second occasion, India’s world No. 8 pairing held on to win 18-21, 23-21, 21-19.
Meanwhile, in the third rubber, world championship silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth easily defeated Jonatan Christie to lead India to a historic victory. Srikanth, ranked 11 in the world, won easily in the first game but faced stiff opposition from world No. 9 Jonatan Christie in the second.
The Indonesian went on a remarkable run near the end to take the lead and even had a game point opportunity. But Kidambi held his nerve and found his groove to win 21-15, 23-21.
IANS received a video of the historic moment from Voot. Following the victory, players and coaches were seen dancing.
(Inputs from IANS)