Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, May 15: The Indian men’s badminton team overcame 14-time champions and holders Indonesia in the final on Sunday to earn their first gold medal at the Thomas Cup, making it one of Indian sports’ most memorable moments.
India, who were first-time finalists, put up a remarkable display in the final, blanking Indonesia 3-0 and writing history. Lakshya Sen (20), began by defeating Anthony Ginting, the bronze medalist from the Tokyo Olympics. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then upset Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19 to give India a 2-0 lead. Finally, Kidambi Srikanth defeated Jonatan Christie 21-15, 23-21 to seal India’s historic victory.
India had never even reached the final of the Thomas Cup before, yet they shown steely nerves throughout the match.
Lakshya Sen and the Rankireddy-Shetty doubles duo both came back after dropping their first games. Sen had been thrashed 8-21 by Ginting in the first game. However, he fought back to win the second game 21-17.
In the third, the Indians put on a show, wowing everyone with their cat-like reflexes and tenacious defence to win the game 21-16. The difficult task of going up against Ahsan and Sukamuljo fell to Rankireddy and Shetty. The Indonesians took the first game 21-18. They went on to take a large lead in the second game, but Rankireddy-Shetty battled back to win it 23-21 after saving four match points.
The championship game was a tight encounter with nothing separating the two teams, but the Indians held their nerve to give the squad a 2-0 lead.
