India scripts a history, beats Indonesia in Thomas Cup Final

When India defeated 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 in the Thomas Cup final in Bangkok on Sunday, it made badminton history.

Underdogs Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, and the doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty all put in outstanding performances to help their teams win big.

World No. 9 Sen, who had food poisoning at the start of the tournament, rallied superbly to beat world No. 4 Anthony Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 and give India the lead in the final.

With India leading 2-0 in the match, the doubles team of Rankireddy and Shetty overcame the loss of the first game and saved four match points in the second to defeat Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19.

Srikanth then faced Christie in the second singles round. Christie drew even with an 8-2 lead before the Indian pulled away.

However, the Indonesian, who had a 5-4 record and two close victories over Srikanth this year, fought back to cut the deficit to 14-15, allowing Srikanth to win the match.

Srikanth, on the other hand, sped away with the next points to win the first game 21-15 and take a 2-0 lead in the series.

The lead changed hands several times in the second game, which went to 7-all. Srikanth then stepped up the pace and took an 11-7 and 13-10 lead over his opponent. Resiliently, the Indonesians came back to level the score at 17-15.

Srikanth did a good job of tying the game at 18 and then going on to win 19-18. On Christie’s next shot, it was 19-all and she was on her way to game point. After saving two game points, Srikanth was able to secure the victory 23-21.

India’s victory was a historic one.

In contrast to Indonesia, India lost only one match in the group stage—to Chinese Taipei—and qualified for the finals.

Despite Indonesia’s elimination of China and Japan in the knockout stage, India defeated five-time defending champions Malaysia and 2016 champions Denmark.

There have only been five winners of the Thomas Cup in the 30 tournaments since 1948–49. Indonesia has won the tournament 14 times.

China won 10 championships after they first competed in 1982. Only Japan and Denmark have won the Cup more times than Malaysia.