Ayush Shetty and the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty registered wins while Lakshya Sen had a tough loss in the singles, as the 2022 champions India notched up a commanding 4-1 win over Canada in their opening Group A tie of the Thomas Cup Finals on Friday.
However there was disappointment in the women’s category as India lost 2-3 to hosts Denmark in their opening Group A tie of the Uber Cup Finals.
India bounced back strongly after Lakshya went down fighting against Victor Lai 18-21, 21-19, 21-10.
World No. 4 duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty quickly brought India back into the tie. They dominated their match, beating Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Kevin Lee 21-10, 21-11.
Ayush, who recently finished runner-up at the Asia Championships, continued his good form. The 20-year-old defeated world No. 33 Brian Yang 21-13, 21-17 in just 39 minutes to give India a 2-1 lead.
India then sealed the tie thanks to the second doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and M R Arjun. They secured a comfortable 21-7, 21-15 win over Ty Alexander Lindeman and Nyl Yakura.
In the final match, Kidambi Srikanth beat Joshua Nguyen 21-17, 21-12. Although the result didn’t affect the outcome, it helped India finish the tie 4-1 and move to second place in the group, behind China.
China, the defending champions and 11-time winners, had an easy 5-0 win over Australia. The top two teams from each group will move on to the quarter-finals.
Speaking after the match, Satwik said: “Really happy with the way we played today… although we were down 0-1, we’re happy that we could get a point for the team and make it 1-0. We don’t want to keep so many expectations, we just want to enjoy as much as possible. It’s a long tournament, we have three days break now. There are new people who have come in, they are young and everyone is in good spirit.”
“We just want to have some good memories in 10 days because you don’t get time. It’s a team event, let’s have some fun. We taking one day at a time,” he added.
In the women’s Uber Cup, India lost a close 2-3 tie against hosts Denmark in their opening Group A match.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu gave India a strong start. She beat world No. 21 Line Christophersen 21-13, 18-21, 21-17 in a hard-fought match.
Next, Unnati Hooda showed great fighting spirit. She saved multiple match points but eventually lost 12-21, 23-25 to world No. 26 Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt.
Tanvi Sharma then lost to Amalie Schulz 21-19, 16-21, 16-21 in a 54-minute match, putting India 1-2 behind.
In a must-win doubles match, Shruti Mishra and Priya Konjengbam came close but missed two match points. They lost a tight decider 17-21, 21-11, 21-23 to Amalie Cecilie Kudsk and Mette Werge after a long battle.
In the final match, Tanisha Crasto and Sindhu picked up a win after Alexandra Boje and Christine Busch retired midway. The Indian pair had won the first game 21-19 and were trailing 14-17 in the second when the Danish duo pulled out.
