Former world number one Kidambi Srikanth will spearhead the Indian challenge at the Thailand Masters 2025 badminton tournament starting from Tuesday at Nimibutr Stadium in Pathumwan.
While the Thomas Cup is the world badminton team championship for men, the Uber Cup is the women’s version. Both championships are held simultaneously biannually.
Seeded second, Sindhu defeated world No. 49 Wen Yu Zhang of Canada 21-16, 21-12 in 30 minutes in her round of 32 match. The Indian,11th in the badminton rankings, will now take on world No. 63 Huang Yu-Husn of Chinese Taipei in the second round.
Srikanth secured a comfortable 21-10, 21-14 victory over world No. 34 Chia Hao Lee to qualify for his first semi-final on the BWF World Tour since November 2022.
Sindhu will now take on the winner of the clash between world No. 1 An Se-young o Korea and Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Wen-chi.
The Indian contingent had reached Birmingham as defending champions in three categories but has been able to retain the gold medal in only one.
World championships silver medallist Srikanth, 11th in the badminton rankings, lost to 41st-ranked Brice Leverdez of France 21-23, 10-21 in 42 minutes at the Istora Stadium.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth for successfully leading Team India to their historic Thomas Cup victory.
In a heartfelt letter posted on twitter on Monday, the 29-year-old World Championship silver medallist, who won the deciding third rubber against world No. 9 Jonatan Christie 21-15, 23-21 to earn a historic maiden title for India in the prestigious team event
With a 21-19 19-21 22-20 win in a quarter-final match that lasted for one hour and 19 minutes seventh seed Kidambi Srikanth will now face World No.8 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia for a place in the final.
