Thomas Cup 2026 Day 1: Indian Team Starts With An Impressive Win Over Canada

 

The Indian men’s team started their Thomas Cup journey with a 4-1 win over Canada in Group A fixture at Forum Horsens Court 2, Horsens on 24th April 2026.  

The first match of the day saw Lakshya Sen suffering three game loss to Victor Lai. It was a closely affair between these two quality players. Sen showed glimpses of his brilliance keeping Lai under pressure. At the mid-game break, the Indian had commanding 11-5 lead. After the interval, Lai fought back strongly before Sen took a commanding 17-11 lead. Lai showed fighting spirit to reduce the scoreline at 18-19. Sen held his nerves to seal the first game by 21-18.

Lai started the second game with attacking mindset keeping Sen under pressure. Despite Sen efforts, Victor took a commanding 11-7 lead at the interval. After the break, Sen fought back strongly keeping Lai under pressure with smashes and making life. Lai held onto his nerves this time to win the 2nd game at 21-19.

Lai looked in great touch right from the word go during the 3rd game putting enough pressure on Sen. It was a dominating performance by Lai to take a 11-5 lead at the break. After the break, Lai put on excellent display winning with 21-10 win giving Canada 1-0 lead.

The men’s doubles pairing of Satwik/Chirag Shetty cruised past their opponents of Lai and Lee in two straight games. Indian pairing looked in dominating touch right from the word go taking a 11-4 lead at the break. After the interval, it was one-way traffic as Satwik/Chirag won with comfortable scoreline of 21-10.

Satwik/Chirag made light work of their opponents in the second game also. They completely dominated to win with a dominating scoreline of 21-11 to level the tie up at 1-1.

The second men’s singles saw Ayush Shetty defeating Brian Yang in two straight games. It was a dominating start for the Badminton Asia Championship silver medalists Shetty keeping Young under immense pressure and not allowing any chances to his opponent. At the mid-game break, Shetty took a commanding 11-5 lead. After the break, it was one-way traffic as Ayush maintained the lead to win with 21-13 scoreline.

Yang started off brightly in the second game with an early 3-0 lead. Shetty fought back strongly levelling the scores at 3-3 and then put on superb display of badminton to take a 11-8 lead at the break. After the interval, Brian fought back strongly to take level the scores and then take a 13-11 lead. The match ebbed and flowed with both players fighting for each point till 16-16. Ayush put on superb badminton display to win the second game comfortably by 21-17 to give India 2-1 lead.

The second men’s doubles saw Amsakarunan and MR Arjun defeated Lindeman/Yakura in two straight games. It was a dominating performance by the Indian pair right from the word go. Amsakarunan and Arjun registered 21-7 scoreline in the first game.

Amsakarunan/Arjun maintained their domination over their opponents in the second game also. They showed skills with smashes and made life tough. Despite some fightback by Lindeman/Yakura, the Indian pair won with ease by 21-15 to take a 3-1 lead.

Kidambi Srikanth registered straight game win over Josh Ngyuen in the third men’s singles with 21-17, 21-12 scoreline. It was a dominating performance by former world number 1 Srikanth keeping his under pressure in just 31 minutes.

Result of India vs Canada Group A (2026 Thomas Cup)

1.      Lakshya Sen lost to Victor Lai (Men’s Singles)- 21-18, 19-21, 10-21

2.      Satwik/Chirag Shetty defeated Lai/Lee (Men’s Doubles)- 21-10, 21-11

3.      Ayush Shetty defeated Brian Yang (Men’s Singles)- 21-13, 21-17

4.      Amsakarunan/MR Arjun defeated Lindeman/Yakura (Men’s Doubles)- 21-7, 21-15

5.      Kidambi Srikanth defeated Josh Nyguen (Men’s Singles)- 21-17, 21-12

They are currently at number 2 spot in Group A with China outplaying Australia with 5-0 scoreline. Indian team will face Australia on 27th April.








Indian men's team beat Canada by 4-1 in Group A Thomas Cup tie 

 

 

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