The Indian team stormed into the quarterfinals of the Thomas Cup Finals after registering a 5-0 sweep over Australia in their second Group A tie in Horsens, Denmark on Monday, April 27. After beating Canada 4-1 in their opener, the Indian team has handed Australia a drubbing in 153 minutes, with not a single loss.
Lakshya Sen, who had suffered a three-game defeat to Canada’s Victor Lai in India’s first group outing, came back strongly to defeat Ephraim Stephen Samย 21-14, 21-16 in the first singles outing to give India an early lead. The big-hitting Ayush Shetty doubled the advantage when he made light work of Shrey Dhand 21-8, 21-6 in mere 26 minutes.ย
Satwik-Chirag sets up India’s win
The time came for doubles action, and India’s top pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty was in action next. The two displayed their court dominance in handing Rizky Hidayat and Jack Yu a 21-14, 21-16 defeat to seal the tie. The Asian Games champions had bagged the first game with ease before trailing 3-6 in the second game but recovered to go 11-9 up. Things got a bit tighter when they were 14-14 tied before going all the way and clinching it 21-16.ย
Prannoy, Hariharan-Arjun wrap things up
Meanwhile, HS Prannoy and the other Indian doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R.Arjun maintained the flawless run of the Indian team. Prannoy, a bronze medallist at the 2023 World Championships and Asian Games, defeated Rishi Honda Boopathy 21-11, 21-17 to take India 4-0 up before Hariharan and Arjun blanked the Aussie pair of Andika Ramadiansyah and Ephraim Stephen Sam 21-12, 21-10.
India and China occupy the top spots in the group. India will next meet China in their last group outing on April 29. China have also won both of their ties,ย defeating Australia 5-0 and Canada 4-1, with their win over Canada being the recent one. Shi Yuqi, the first singles player, gave Canada’s Victor Lai a walkover in what could keep his energy for the Lakshya Sen tie on Wednesday. The other Chinese players won their game as China took the tie 4-1.
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