Picture : Twitter / ANI
Indian badminton team created history on Sunday as they lifted the Thomas Cup trophy for the very first time. In what was India’s first-ever appearance in the tournament finale, they defeated the record 14-time champions Indonesia in the Thomas Cup 2022 final at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand by 3-0 to lift the coveted trophy.
No Indian team has previously reached the final of the Thomas and Uber Cup in its 70-plus year history.
HISTORY SCRIPTED 🥺❤️
Pure show of grit and determination & India becomes the #ThomasCup champion for the 1️⃣st time in style, beating 14 times champions Indonesia 🇮🇩 3-0 in the finals 😎
It’s coming home! 🫶🏻#TUC2022#ThomasCup2022#ThomasUberCups#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/GQ9pQmsSvP
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) May 15, 2022
Indian men reached the Thomas Cup semi-finals in 1952, 1955 and 1979 while the women’s team made it to the Uber Cup top-four in 2014 and 2016.
Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and the doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty turned in superlative performances in their respective matches to earn the underdogs an unexpected, thumping victory.
World No. 9 Sen, who was laid low by food poisoning at the start of the tournament, won the opening singles, rallying splendidly after losing the first game, to beat world No. 4 Anthony Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 and give India the lead in the final.
Then, the doubles combination of Rankireddy and Shetty also overcame the loss of the opening game and saved four match-points in the second to get the better of Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19 and register the most sensational victory of their career and put India 2-0 up in the contest.
In the second singles, Srikanth then produced a fine performance to outclass Asian Games gold medallist Jonatan Christie 21-15 23-21 in 48 minutes to seal the contest.
Accolades Flowed on Twitter :
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The Indian badminton team has scripted history! The entire nation is elated by India winning the Thomas Cup! Congratulations to our accomplished team and best wishes to them for their future endeavours. This win will motivate so many upcoming sportspersons.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 15, 2022
A special interaction with our badminton 🏸 champions, who have won the Thomas Cup and made 135 crore Indians proud. pic.twitter.com/KdRYVscDAK
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 15, 2022
Anurag Thakur, Union Sports Minister
HISTORY🇮🇳CREATED !
Congratulations to the Indian men’s badminton team’s for winning the Thomas Cup!
This extraordinary feat, with succesive victories over Malaysia, Denmark and Indonesia, calls for matching honour by the nation.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/P3bTgsdtOS
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) May 15, 2022
Shashi Tharoor, Senior Congress Leader
This is BIG! India vs Indonesia, Thomas Cup Final: @lakshya_Sen, @satwiksairaj @Shettychirag04 & @srikidambi showed nerves of steel as India beat the defending champions Indonesia 3-0 to win their first ever Thomas Cup! https://t.co/jxdpLF4uvy
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 15, 2022
Gautam Gambhir, East Delhi BJP MP,
History made. Welcome to India #Thomascup! Phenomenal!
Jai Hind 🇮🇳🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/EO3wW0q8d2— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 15, 2022
Abhinav Bindra , Olympic Gold Medal Winner
What a historic day! An incredible achievement by an incredible Team India to win the #ThomasCup for the first time ever!! Bounced back from tough situations on numerous occasions to win Gold. Kudos to all the players and coaches. Champions, all of you!
— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) May 15, 2022
Saina Nehwal, India Badminton Player
Congratulations TEAM INDIA Men’s Team for winning the THOMAS CUP Title … Great win 🥇 #ThomasUberCup2022 @srikidambi @lakshya_sen @satwiksairaj @Shettychirag04 @PRANNOYHSPRI 👏
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) May 15, 2022
Virat Kohli, Former India Cricket Skipper
A historic achievement and a massive moment for Indian badminton. Congratulations Team India on winning the Thomas Cup 🇮🇳🏆👏
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) May 15, 2022
Sunil Chhetri , India Football Skipper
What a moment for Indian sport – we are Thomas Cup champions for the first ever time, and we beat the best to make it happen.
Congrats to the players and staff.
Some things take time, but don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done. 👏— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) May 15, 2022
