India defeats Germany 5-0 Thomas Cup
India's badminton teams started their Thomas and Uber Cup campaigns in style as they defeated Germany in Bangkok on Sunday. The men's team sacked a 5-0 Group C Thomas Cup clash while the women won 4-1 in their Group D Uber Cup encounter
Image credit: pia.images.co.uk Lakshay Sen fires in Thomas cupLakshya Sen's easy 21-16 21-13 win over world No. 64 Max Weisskirchen marked the country's inaugural win in the Thomas Cup. Meanwhile, the partnership of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty took the match into the decider but lost to Jones Ralfy Jansen and Marvin Seidel 21-15 10-21 21-13. World number 11 Kidambi Srikanth conceded the first game but clinched a win against Kai Schafer easily 18-21 21-9.
Priyanshu Rajawat, the 20-year-old shuttler known for solid performance at the selection trials, recorded another win to the 5-0 tally. MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila defeated Bjarne Geiss and Jan Colin Voelker 25-23, 21-15 defeat. HS Prannoy earned the final win, which raised the tally 5-0 against Germany, with a 21-9 21-9 win over Matthias Kicklitz. PV Sindhu won the first match against Canada in the Uber Cup Group D match with a 21-17 21-10 win over Michelle Li, which lasted 33 minutes. Canada's Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai then levelled the score when they beat the Indian doubles pair of Shruti Mishar and Simran Singhi 19-21, 12-21.
The rest of the games ended in favour of the Indians as Aakarshi Kashyap beat Wen Yu Zhang 17-21 21-18 21-17 in women's singles, and the women pair of Tanisha Crasto and Treesa Jolly clinched a 21-9 21-15 win over Catherine Choi and Josephine Wu. The last win is credited to Ashmita Chaliha, who closed the campaign with a 12-21 21-11 22-20 victory over Rachel Chan. He has yet to be beaten at this tournament and faces Chinese Taipei in group C.
Format and challenges to be faced by India
The tournament format requires 16 teams to be separated into groups of four as the top two teams pull through to the knockout stage. Amongst the group C members, Indian men will have a hard time tackling Chinese Taipei, where world number 4 Chou Tien Chen, alongside the world number three doubles pairing of Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin, are expected to bring in victory. In the Thomas Cup, Indonesia's defending champion is the most successful team, with 14 men's titles. Meanwhile, China has 15 Uber Cup crowns to their credit.
Former India coach Vimal Kumar told PTI, "We have the best chance to win Thomas Cup this time. We have three decent singles and one doubles pair at par with the best and we just have to make sure that they are all pumped up, all of them are capable of beating the best. I can understand, it is difficult for the women's team but the men's team has a good chance."