Badminton: India wins 3-2 against Malaysia in Thomas Cup

Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy and the doubles pairing of Satwik and Chirag secured victories for India. Kidambi Srikanth was in a secure form in the quarter-final tie against Malaysia. 

India defeated 5-time champions Malaysia to reach their first semi-final since 1979. HS Prannnoy pocketed the deciding win, beating Leong Jun Hao in straight games when tied the contest at 2-2 before the final singles match. Despite the women's side winning bronze medals back in 2014 and 2016 in Uber Cup, the men's team hadn't tasted victory until their recent tie win against Malaysia. 

India scripts history by clinching its first medal in Thomas Cup

India had a shaky start to their quarter-finals campaign as World Championships bronze medalist Lakshya Sen failed to regain his form and suffered a defeat against Lee Zii Jia. The match marks Lakshya's first defeat to the Malaysian star. Although he almost won the first game, Lee Zii Jia's efforts earned him the first game at a small margin of 21-23. The reigning Asian Championships gold medalist and the former All England champion finally completed the win in straight sets, 23-21, 21-9, as the match lasted 46 minutes.

Next, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty led the doubles charge for India and did not disappoint. They helped India equalise the score at 1-1 after decimating Fei Sze Goh and Izzuddin Nur in the first doubles match of the tie, 21-19, 21-15. In the second singles match of the tie, world championships silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth quickly overcame Young Tze Ng 21-11, 21-17 in a game that finished in 41 minutes.

Interestingly, Malaysia fought back to equal the tie at 2-2 when Aarn Chia and Teo Ee Yi thrashed the young Indian pairing of Krishna Prasad and Panjala Vishnuvardhan 21-19, 21-17 in the second doubles encounter of the day. It was ultimately up to HS Pranmoy to make the last win for India in the deciding match against lower-ranked Leong Ju Hao. 

However, the world number 23 impressed the fans with a flawless performance despite increasing tension and won the decider 21-13, 21-8 in 30 minutes. On Friday, India will now face the winner of the final quarter-final tie between Korea and Denmark. Meanwhile, The PV Sindhu-led Indian women's side stormed out of the quarter-finals after a 0-3 defeat to Thailand.