India’s Thomas Cup campaign ended in the quarter-finals when the defending champions lost to powerhouses China 1-3 in Chengdu, China on Thursday, May 2. Lakshya Sen was the lone winner for India as the holders crashed out in a disappointing manner in the prestigious team tournament, which they won two years ago in Bangkok.
There were warning signs for India as they were outclassed 1-4 in their final Group C tie by Indonesia on Wednesday. India took the court, less than 24 hours after the draining tie against Indonesia while China had a day’s break before their quarter-final.
The fatigue was evident as India’s shuttlers were unable to cope with the intensity of the Chinese stars, who did not need the final match of the quarter-final tie.
India’s top-ranked singles shuttler HS Prannoy lost to World No. 2 Shi Yuqi. Despite making a strong start with a win in the opening game, Prannoy was not able to maintain his intensity throughout the contest. Prannoy lost 21-15, 11-21, 14-21 in an hour and 6 minutes.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who headed into the quarter-final after a defeat in the tie against Indonesia, were beaten in three games by World No. 1`Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. The Indian doubles stars, who played a key role in the Thomas Cup triumph 2 years ago, lost 15-21, 21-11, 12-21.
It was a disappointing tournament for Satwik and Chirag as the Olympic medal favourites failed in two crunch ties for India, losing their doubles rubbers against Indonesia and China.
LAKSHYA SECURES LONE WIN FOR INDIA
Lakshya Sen then kept India’s hopes alive by defeating World No. 6 Li Shi Feng in a come-from-behind victory. Lakshya lost the opening game 13-21, but he fought back and took the match in an hour and 10 minutes. Lakshya raced to a 21-8 win the second game as he swung the momentum in his favour and did not look back.
However, India were not able to push the quarter-final contest into the decider as Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek were beaten 10-21, 10-21 to He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu in 34 minutes.
India had picked Kiran George for the final singles rubber instead of Kidambi Srikanth. However, Kiran was not needed as China secured the win in the 4th match, sealing a 3-1 win.
INDIA BOW OUT OF UBER CUP
Earlier in the day, the Indian women’s team showed enough promise for the future despite losing to Japan 3-0 inthe quarter-final of the Uber Cup in Chengdu.
Despite the absence of experienced campaigners, including PV Sindhu, India made it to the last eight stage with two convincing wins over Canada and Singapore is a huge shot in the arm for the next generation of women’s singles shuttlers.
