Bangkok: In one of the most memorable moments for Indian sports, the men’s badminton team beat 14-time champions and holders Indonesia in the final on Sunday to win a maiden gold medal at Thomas Cup. First-time finalists India produced a stunning performance in the final to blank Indonesia 3-0 and script history. It all started with 20-year-old Lakshya Sen beating Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Anthony Ginting.
Doubles stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then gave India a 2-0 lead by beating Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19. And finally, Kidambi Srikanth sealed India’s historic win by outclassing Jonatan Christie 21-15, 23-21. It was the first time that India had even reached the final at Thomas Cup, but showed nerves of steel throughout in the final. Lakshya Sen and doubles pairing of Rankireddy-Shetty both came back after losing their respective opening games.
In fact, Sen had been drubbed 8-21 in the opening game against Ginting. But he came back strongly to win the second game 21-17. The Indian then put on a procession in the third, wowing all with the cat-like reflexes and stubborn defence to win game 21-16.
Rankireddy and Shetty then had the unenviable task of going up against Ahsan and Sukamuljo. The Indonesian pair won the opening game 21-18. Srikanth then saved a game point at 20-21 before closing out the game and the match to give India a memorable win.