NEW DELHI: In the Thomas Cup last year (postponed from 2020 due to Covid), India lost in the quarter-finals. The three editions earlier, they made a group stage exit. In 2012, India didn't even qualify for the biennial event.
Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, and Lakshya Sen had played earlier. So what was it about the team in Bangkok that spurred India to their maiden triumph in 32 editions? A look at the factors that helped India win five of their sixties to be crowned champions.
Double trouble
Possibly the single biggest reason for India's success was the world-class pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Traditionally strong in singles, India never had a doubles pair to take on the world's best till this pair, seasoned by having pulled off magnificent wins going into this team contest. Their only loss came against Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Chinese Taipei, the pair they beat in the group stages of the Tokyo Olympics. The victory of the world No 8 in the final stood out-they beat one-half of the world No1 and 2 pairs. It gave India a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five tie.
This story is from the May 17, 2022 edition of Hindustan Times.
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This story is from the May 17, 2022 edition of Hindustan Times.
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