Guwahati: The Indian badminton team has made history on Sunday by winning the Thomas Cup trophy for the first time.
For the first time, India reached the event final where they faced 14-time champions Indonesia at the Impact Arena in Bangkok of Thailand.
For the first time in their history, India overcame Thailand 3-0 to win the prized title. No Indian team has ever advanced to the finals of the Thomas or Uber Cups. The Indian men’s team reached the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup in 1952, 1955, and 1979, while the women’s team reached the top four of the Uber Cup in 2014 and 2016, reported ANI.
India advanced for the knockout stage after finishing second in Group C behind Chinese Taipe where they faced tough teams like Malaysia and Denmark in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively.
Lakshya Sen of India won the first point of the match after defeating Anthony Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-16. Ginting had taken the lead early, embarking on a 12-point run to win the first game 21-8 in just 17 minutes, but Sen responded well in the second game, taking it to a decider and winning it.
Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia won the first match 21-18 in the second match. From there, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty of India showed amazing tenacity to survive four match points and win the second game 23-21. They went on to take the deciding 18-21, 23-21, 21-19 to win the match.
In the third match, India’s Kidambi Srikanth defeated Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie 21-15 in the first game and went on to win the match by also winning the second game 23-21 to make history.