A day earlier than India started the knockout rounds of the Thomas Cup finals, the crew was removed from assured. The three-2 defeat in opposition to Chinese language Taipei within the final league sport had let doubts creep in.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had misplaced to Tokyo Olympic champions Yang Lee and Chi-lin Wang within the tie and it was left to Vimal Kumar, the previous worldwide and supervisor of the crew, to encourage the squad.
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“I instructed the crew how the Chinese language Taipei pair had regrouped after shedding to Satwik and Chirag within the group stage on the Tokyo Olympics. It was the one loss they suffered and went on to turn out to be Olympic champions. An analogous effort was wanted from each participant within the knockouts and it was doable,” mentioned Vimal.
Within the subsequent three ties, India confirmed such tenacity and temperament that they beat powerhouses Malaysia (3-2), Denmark (3-2), and 14-time champions Indonesia (3-0) within the remaining to win the Thomas Cup for the primary time for the reason that prestigious event, thought to be the world crew championship, started in 1948-49.
Over the previous 5 years, Indian males have been creating waves on Tour. The likes of Kidmabi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, the doubles pairing of Satwik/Chirag have been making heads flip and profitable titles. Enter Lakshya Sen in 2021 to fill the hole in singles (a tie contains three singles and two doubles matches) and make the crew formidable.
Nonetheless, the essential side lacking was the bonding required to deal with the collective to create magic. That final piece of the jigsaw got here collectively in Bangkok.
“I’ve by no means seen such degree of dedication from the gamers,” mentioned Vimal.
“This crew has been shaping up since 2017 however earlier there was a little bit of a reluctance from the gamers to provide precedence to crew championships. The Tour is hard and so they have been targeted on particular person performances. This time all of them got here collectively, they believed they may do it. The crew ambiance was nice and so they all backed one another. “
Collectively, India confirmed grit, bounced again from losses and received cliff-hangers. It helped that India had a seasoned campaigner in Srikanth. The previous world No.1 was exhibiting indicators of resurgence and reached the ultimate of world championships final yr. As captain, Srikanth led from the entrance profitable all his six matches and mentored the crew effectively.
HS Prannoy was good in closing out the deciders. In opposition to five-time champions Malaysia (India received 3-2), Prannoy defeated Leong Jun Hao to win an exhilarating quarter-final. It was Prannoy once more who was sensational in opposition to world No. 13 Rasmus Gemke of Denmark within the semi-final. He braved ankle ache to put up a well-known victory.
Within the remaining Sen, until then had been laid low by a abdomen an infection, joined the social gathering beating Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Anthony Ginting within the opening tie. Satwik and Chirag got here again from a sport right down to beat Indonesian duo of Muhammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Srikanth sealed it with a win over Jonatan Christie.
“I believe this victory has established India on the high as a badminton powerhouse,” mentioned Vimal. “The youthful lot will likely be impressed. The present gamers are already giving some distinctive performances.”
Carrying on from the Thomas Cup’s triumph, Indian gamers have raised the bar on the Tour and at Commonwealth Video games. Chirag and Satwik have advanced right into a formidable crew. They grew to become the primary Indian males’s doubles pair to win a medal (bronze) in world championships after which clinched the title at Commonwealth Video games.
Sen continued on his sizzling streak of kind from earlier yr and made it to the ultimate of All England, beat Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen to assert the German Open title and received the Commonwealth Video games title. He’s among the many most feared opponents in world badminton now.
Nonetheless, it was 30-year-old Prannoy who has revived his profession this yr. He could not have a particular person title to point out for however beat Ginting, Sen, Loh Kean Yew and Axelsen and is in the very best section of his profession.
PV Sindhu had a quiet yr by her requirements regardless of ending her lengthy watch for a singles title on the Commonwealth Video games and profitable her maiden Tremendous 500 title at Singapore Open.
One of many heart-warming moments of the yr was when younger Priyanshu Rajawat was requested to guide the Thomas Cup profitable crew to the rostrum. In direction of the tip of the yr, Sankar Muthusamy emerged new star making the the ultimate of junior world championships.