Indian men’s badminton team defeated Malaysia 3-2 to reach their first Thomas Cup semi-final in 43 years.
Indian team celebrates after reaching Thomas Cup 2022 semis. Twitter/@Media_SAI
History was made in Indian badminton on Thursday at the Impact Arena in Thailand’s Bangkok when the Indian men’s badminton team defeated Malaysia 3-2 to reach their first Thomas Cup semi-final in 43 years.
India, who had not won a medal at the event since 1979, are now assured of at least a bronze. In total, India have clinched three bronze medals at the event n the past in 1952, 1955 and 1979 by reaching the inter-zonal finals, but it is the first time now that they have won a medal at Thomas Cup since the change in the qualifying format.
HS Prannoy won the third point for India after beating Leong Jun Hao 21-13, 21-8 to complete a come-from-behind victory and script history. As soon as Prannoy won his match, his teammates stormed onto the court to celebrate the historic moment.
The celebration and the winning moments were also captured by the Badminton Association of India and the Badminton World Federation who shared the videos on social media platforms.
“This is one tournament when we’ve never done well. There are a lot of reasons, but this time it was one of the best teams for us to come to the Thomas Cup,” Prannoy was quoted as saying after the match by the BWF website. “Everybody is stepping up. We all want the next generation to see that we’re up there in the world. In a team event we’re always written off, but we told each other we’ll fight until the end and play what we’re capable of.”
Earlier, Lakshya Sen, world No 9, lost the opening match of the tie to world No 6 Lee Zii Jia 23-21, 21-9. Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy then helped India level the score with a 21-19, 21-15 win over Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin.
Kidambi Srikanth gave India the 2-1 lead with a 21-11, 21-17 victory over NG Tze Yong. Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala 19-21, 17-21 loss to Aaron Chia and Teo Ee Yi had the score level at 2-2 before Prannoy finished the job for India.
India will face Denmark in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the Indian women’s team was knocked out of the Uber Cup after losing 0-3 to Thailand in the quarter-finals.
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