Bangkok, Thailand, May 15, 2022: India’s men’s badminton team wrote another chapter in the country’s rich sporting history by winning the Thomas Cup for the first time in history on Sunday.
The Indians defeated defending champions Indonesia 3-0 in the final of the Badminton World Federation's men's team championship at Impact Arena in Bangkok to add their name on the coveted trophy.
For a country that participated in its first Thomas Cup 73 years ago and never made it past the semifinals, the enormity of that achievement will need no reminding. The happenings of finals day will be recounted as sporting legend.
India began the final with Lakshya Sen beating Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 in the opening singles match.
In the doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty overcame Mohammad Ahsan/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19 after the Indonesians missed four match points in the second game which would have levelled the tie 1-1.
Kidambi Srikanth then sealed the deal 21-15, 23-21 in the second singles contest against 2018 Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie to end the tie with two rubbers to spare.
“Even after leading 2-0, we knew that Indonesia have a strong team and it was important to close out and win those crucial points,” said Kidambi.
“We always thought we are capable, but we only had to be consistent. Coming here, it was a fantastic team and we had great atmosphere. We were a happy team, and we were really supporting each other and backing each other.”
*Korea won the Uber Cup women’s team title for only the second time in history the previous day by beating the 15-time champions China 3-2.
World No. 46 Sim Yu Jin produced the performance of her life in the critical match, defeating world No. 15 Wang Zhiyi 28-26, 18-21, 21-8 in 1 hour 28 minutes.
China’s two points came from Chen Yufei in the opening singles and He Bingjao in the second singles, while Korea replied through their two doubles teams of Lee So Hee/Shin Seung Chan and Kim Hye Jeong/Kong Hee Yong before Sim secured the victory.
Source: https://bwfthomasubercups.bwfbadminton.com