India to tackle Indonesia in the Thomas Cup final
Reputed coach of the Indian badminton team Pullela Gopichand stated that the event feels equivalent to the Indian squad reaching the Cricket World Cup final in 1983
Kidambi Srikanth led India to winThey did not have an encouraging start to the day as youngster Lakshya Sen succumbed to Viktor Axelsen 13-21, 13-21. A few months back, Axelsen had defeated Sen in the final of the All England Championships.
The pairing of Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty opened India's doubles campaign with a 21-18, 21-23, 22-20 victory over Kim Astrup and Mathias Christiansen. The opponent lost by a marginal deficit as the Indians gave their all to pocket the win. Kidambi Srikanth further widened the lead with a 21-18, 12-21, 21-15 win against Anders Antonsen. India slowly started to take control before Denmark resurfaced in the second doubles match. The formidable pair of Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and Frederik Sogaard were too much for Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala as the Indians lost 14-21, 3-21. Denmark bagged an easy win which was followed by the decider.
Prannoy did justice to the deciding match, and after a 13-21 opening game defeat, he fought back to thrash Gemke 21-9. He took his increasingly brilliant form in the third game and notched a 21-12 win directing India into their first-ever tournament final. They will now face Indonesia in the final tie. In contrast to the men's team that has made it to the last, the women's team bowed out of the tournament after losing 0-3 to Thailand in the quarter-final on May 12.