- By Ashita Singh
- Sun, 15 May 2022 04:16 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
New Delhi | Jagran Sports Desk: India Men's Badminton team scripted history after defeating Indonesia by 3-0 to win the Maiden Thomas Cup 2022 at the Impact Arena in Thailand's Bangkok. India's first win in the history of the Thomas Cup came after Kidambi Srikanth defeated a games gold medallist Jonatan Christie in the third round of the finals on Sunday. Earlier today, Lakshya Sen defeated Anthony Ginting in the very first round to provide India with a lead and then the Chirag and Satwik - India's best doubles pair made India's slot towards a historic gold win solid after defeating Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.
Let's take a look at the journey of India Men's Badminton Team to a historic gold win in the Thomas Cup 2022:
Group stage
India in the group stage was placed in Group C which also included Chinese Taipei, Germany and Canada. The very first match of India was against Germany, which they won by 5-0.
India 5-0 Germany
India thrashed Germany 5-0 in their first group tie. Lakshya Sen started with an easy 21-16, 21-13 win over Max Weisskirchen. The doubles pair of Satwiksairaj and Chirag were troubled by Jones Ralfy Jansen and Marvin Seidel but won 21-15, 10-21, 21-13. World no 11 Srikanth secured an 18-21, 21-9, 21-11 win over Kai Schafer.Arjun and Dhruv Kapila defeated Bjarne Geiss and Jan Colin Voelker 25-23, 21-15, while world no 23 Prannoy clinched a 21-9, 21-9 win over Matthias Kicklitz.
India 5-0 Canada
India defeated Canada and booked their spot in the knockout stage. Srikanth won the first match by fighting back from a game down to beat Brian Yang. Then, Satwiksairaj and Chirag beat Jason Anthony Ho-Shue and Kevin Lee, before Prannoy won against BR Sankeerth to win the tie. Krishna Prasad and Vishnuvardhan defeated Dong Adam and Nyl Yakura 21-15, 21-11. And Priyanshu Rajawat won the last match against Victor Lal 21-13, 20-22, 21-14.
India 2-3 Chinese Taipei
India lost to Chinese Taipei and lose the chance to finish on top in the group stage. Lakshya Sen lost to world no 4 Chou Tien Chen in the first match. Satwiksairaj and Chirag were defeated by the world no 3 pairing of Lee Yang and Chi-Lin Wang. Srikanth then pulled back things and defeated Tzu Wei Wang 21-19, 21-16, but Arjun and Dhruv Kapila's defeat to Lu Ching Yao and Po Han Yang by 21-17, 19-21, 21-19 gave the opposition the tie. Prannoy won the dead rubber against Lu Chia Hung 21-18, 17-21, 21-18.
Quarter-finals
India 3-2 Malaysia
Lakshya Sen lost the opening match to world No 6 But Satwiksairaj and Chirag helped India level the score with a win over Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin by 21-19, 21-15. Srikanth put India 2-1 ahead with a 21-11, 21-17 victory over NG Tze Yong.Krishna Prasad and Vishnuvardhan's 19-21, 17-21 loss to Aaron Chia and Teo Ee Yi helped Malaysia make a comeback before Prannoy clinched the tie for India with a historic 21-13, 21-8 win over Leong Jun Hao.
Semi-finals
India 3-2 Denmark
Viktor Axelsen gave Denmark a 1-0 lead with a comfortable 21-13, 21-13 win over Lakshya Sen. However, India was quick to turn things around. Satwiksairaj and Chirag beat Astrup and Christiansen in a three-game contest to level things before Srikanth made it 2-1 with a 21-18, win over world number 3 Anders Antonsen. With this India entered the historic finals of the Thomas Cup to win against 14-time title winners Indonesia.