Thomas Cup 2022 Finals: Indian team stuns Indonesia to lift maiden Trophy
The Indian men’s badminton created history as they registered an emphatic victory over 14-time Champions Indonesia in the finals of the prestigious Thomas Cup finals played at Impact Court Arena 1 on Sunday.
Lakshya Sen came back from one game down to register a
superb win over Anthony Gingting in three games. Gingting looked sharp right
from the word go in game 1 as the Indian committed lots of unforced errors. At
the mid-game interval, the Indonesian led 11-7. After the break, Gingting made life
tough for Sen and won the first game easily at 21-8.
The second game started with Sen showing intent right from
the word go putting pressure on the Indonesian. At the break, the Indian led
11-7. After the break, both players fought for each point before Sen held his
nerves to win the second game by 21-17.
It was an aggressive start for Gingting in the third game
before Sen showed great fight and spirit to put enough pressure on Indonesia. Sen
showed steal to take an 11-7 lead at the interval. After the break, Gingting
fought back strongly to take 5 successive points giving an advantage. Indian kept the pressure on the opposition with net shots and helped Sen win the decider by
21-16 to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Satwiksairaj RankiReddy and Chirag Shetty produced stunning
doubles defeating Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya in three grueling games. The
first game saw the Indian starting well with brilliant shots but Ahsan and Sanjaya
kept pressure taking an 11-9 lead at the interval. After the break, Satwik and
Chirag committed lots of unforced errors and looked in trouble. Indian pair
showed great spirit to level the scores at 18-18 before the Indonesian pair won the
first game at 21-18.
The second game saw the Indian pair putting enough pressure
on Ahsan and Sanjaya not allowing them to settle. At the mid-game interval,
Satwik and Chirag led 11-6. After the break, the Indian pair had a good lead but
Ahsan and Sanjaya showed great courage to have 4 match points. The match ebbed
and flowed before the Indian pair converted their own winning second game by 23-21
to force the game into decider.
It was a close-fought game right from the word go in the
third game before the Indian pair took a slender 11-9 lead at the interval. After
the break, the match shifted towards the Indonesian before Satwik and Chirag
fought back strongly to level the scores. It was a superb effort by Satwik and
Chirag to hold their nerves winning the third game at 21-19 giving India a 2-0 lead.
The second singles saw Kidambi Srikanth defeat Asian Games
gold medallist Jonathan Christie in two straight games. It was a superb start
for the Indian putting enough pressure on the Indonesian taking an 8-2 lead. Christie
fought back strongly level scores at 8-8. At the mid-game interval, Srikanth
led with a 2-point margin. After the break, Srikanth looked strong enough making
life tough for Christie winning the first game at 21-15.
It was a close-fought start to the second game as both
players took alternate points before Srikanth showed smashing skills leading an 11-8 lead at the interval. After the break, the match ebbed and flowed from one
end to another with Indonesian having a chance to win but Srikanth held his nerves
to win the decider by 23-21 giving India a historic 3-0 win and created history.
The Indian men’s badminton became the sixth nation in Thomas
Cup history to win the prestigious tournament. It was a remarkable performance
by the team who defeated five-time champion Malaysia in the quarterfinals
followed by Denmark with a thrilling 3-2 gap in the semi-finals.
Comments