Thomas Cup 2021: Indian men’s team went down fighting in a thriller

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 The Indian men’s team played their hearts out before losing to hosts Denmark in a thrilling encounter played at Ceres Court Arena 1, Aarhus on Friday.

In the opening tie, Kidambi Srikanth lost to Olympic Champion Victor Axselen in two straight games. It was a disappointing performance by Kidambi whose shot-making was not up to the mark as he the shuttle out or on the net. At the mid-game interval, Axselen took a commanding 11-3 lead. Srikanth tried to make a comeback taking four successive points but committed lots of errors as the tall player put the Indian under pressure and won the first set easily at 21-12.

The second game went on the same path as the first with Srikanth making lots of mistakes. Axselen showed intent right from word go and took a commanding 11-3 lead at the interval. After the break, the Indian tried his best but Olympic Champion kept pressure winning the second set at 21-13 to give Denmark a 1-0 lead.

Satwiksairaj RankiReddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Kim Astrup and Rasmussen in three grueling games. It was a great start by the Indian pair dominating the Danish with smashes. At the mid-game interval, Reddy and Shetty had an 11-5 lead. After the interval, the Indian pair continued to dominate and won the first game easily at 21-15.

It was the turn of the Danish pair to show their skills with attacking play and putting the Indians under pressure. Astrup and Rasmussen had a brilliant 11-6 lead at the interval. Reddy and Shetty made a strong comeback with successive points, but the Danish pair never let the game slip winning it 21-17 to force the match into the decider.

The final game went right down the wire as both pairs fought for each point. Reddy and Chirag had a slender 11-10 lead at the break. It was an amazing performance by the Indian pair who played attacking smashes and kept Danish players under pressure. Reddy and Chirag helped India win the third set at 21-18 to level the score at 1-1.

Sai Praneeth had a disappointing outing against Anders Antonsen losing in two straight games. Anders showed his class in the first game as Sai looked out of sorts and won the first set easily at 21-8.

The second game was a much better effort by Sai who fought with aggression and made life tough for the opponent till 12-12. Anders dominated winning the second set easily at 21-15 to give Denmark a 2-1 lead.

In the second doubles, Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun lost to the newly formed Danish pair of Mathias Christensen and Fredick Soggarad in two straight games. It was a brilliant start by Kapila and Arjun taking an early 8-4 lead. The Danish made a strong comeback equalling the scores at 8-8, then took an 11-9 lead at the interval.

After the break, the Danish pair did not allow the young Indian pair of Kapila and Arjun to comeback winning the first set easily at 21-16. The second game was a one-sided affair as the Danish pair dominated winning it by 21-9 to move into the semi-finals.

It was the first time that the Indian men’s team reached the quarterfinals of the Thomas Cup after a gap of 11 years. Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth did not perform according to expectations and finished 5th position in the prestigious tournament. 

Indian men's team loses in the QFs of Thomas Cup 2021 

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