India scripts history, beats Indonesia to win maiden Thomas Cup

Hyderabad: Indian men’s badminton team scripted history by clinching first ever Thomas Cup defeating 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 in final, in Bangkok on Sunday. India took a crucial 2-0 lead with the help of Lakshya Sen in first singles and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s victories in doubles. In the second singles, Kidambi Srikanth produced […]

Hyderabad: Indian men’s badminton team scripted history by clinching first ever Thomas Cup defeating 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 in final, in Bangkok on Sunday.

India took a crucial 2-0 lead with the help of Lakshya Sen in first singles and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s victories in doubles. In the second singles, Kidambi Srikanth produced another stellar performance to defeat Jonathan Christie 21-15, 23-21 to seal the maiden title and send the Indian contingent into delirium. India are playing their maiden final in the Thomas Cup on Sunday.

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Earlier in the first singles, youngster Lakshya Sen staged a tremendous comeback after going down in the first game to defeat Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-1 to give India 1-0 lead.

Earlier, youngster Lakshya Sen put India in 1-0 lead with a come-back win over Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the Thomas Cup final against 14-time champions Indonesia. The men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj and Chirag swelled India’s lead to 2-0 with a three-game thrilling victory over experienced Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, in Bangkok on Sunday.

Having lost the first game, 81-21, the Indian duo bounced back strongly and prevailed over Indonesian duo 23-21, 21-19 in the next two to take India closer to historic title. The second game was an edge-of-the thriller contest with momentum swinging in both ways. But the youngsters held their nerves to take the match into decider.

With the Indonesian duo not giving in easily, the fight went down the wire in the third game. Though the Indians trailed 13-16 at one stage, they upped their game to clinch the doubles tie.