India created history on May 15, by winning the iconic badminton championship Thomas Cup against Indonesia. It won three straight matches, two men’s singles and a men’s doubles match to seal the championship.
India’s Kidambi Srikanth on May 15 defeated Indonesia’s Leonardus Jonatan Christie in Thomas Cup Final 2022, held in Bangkok. Earlier in the day, India’s doubles Satwik Chirag win 18-21, 23-21, 21-19 for their most sensational victory of their career. With this, India’s lead against Indonesia stands at 3-0. Prior to this, Lakshya Sen defeated Anthony Ginting by 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 in a thrilling tie. This is a developing story, please check back for updates
Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen, doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and Kidambi Srikanth came up with phenomenal performances to outplay the defending champion in style. It had earlier created history by reaching the finals for the first time. Meanwhile, the Indian sporting fraternity was all-praise for the Indian badminton outfit.
Following the success, the Badminton Association of India’s (BAI’s) vice president and national coach Pullela Gopichand spoke to Asianet, as he lauded the success as ‘huge’ and ‘magical. “This is genuinely huge. It’s magical. It is like India winning the cricket World Cup in 1983 or bigger. Indonesia have a huge reputation and legacy in badminton and Thomas Cup and to beat them shows that we have arrived on the world stage,” he said.
So far, we were known as a women powerhouse with Saina and Sindhu dominating. But now, our boys have also announced their arrival. I hope this will see more parents encouraging their kids to take on the sport. I can already see it happening when I travel around the country,” added Gopichand.
“There are so many academies trying to train youngsters in a manner that is not yet perfect, but at least an attempt to be systematic is there. We at BAI will put in more effort to build on this momentum. I thank President BAI and the PM for the incredible support over the years,” Gopichand concluded.
As for the finals, Sen started off the proceedings against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. It was a tight contest where the former won in three sets (21-8, 17-21, 16-21). It was followed by the doubles clash against Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, as Rankireddy and Shett were involved in another tight contest but prevailed in three sets (21-18, 21-23, 19-21).
In the third game, do-or-die for Indonesia, Srikanth was brutal on Jonatan Christie. He got the job done in straight sets (15-21, 21-23) as India roared to its historic Thomas Cup title for the first time.