Good Sports: India Badminton Team Wins Thomas Cup
The Thomas Cup, a men’s team competition among member nations of the Badminton World Federation, has been played since 1948 and became a biennial event in 1982. Only five countries— Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Japan, and Denmark—had won the title until this year, when India upset 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 in the final in Bangkok, Thailand.
After knocking off Malaysia 3-2 in the quarterfinals and Denmark 3-2 in the semis, India shocked the defending champions with wins by singles players Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth, and the doubles team of Satwaiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
The players were so excited after the victory that they slept with the gold medals around their necks.
“We never thought we will win the Thomas Cup,” said HS Prannoy, who won two tie-deciding matches in the quarterfinals and semifinals, but didn’t need to play in the final. “We were thinking that we had a good chance of winning a medal but this is beyond our dreams.”
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Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
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