AMN
Indian Men’s Badminton team on Sunday scripted history by winning the Thomas Cup for the first time ever, dethroning 14 time Champions Indonesia in Bangkok this afternoon. In a heroic effort, India defeated Indonesia 3-0 in the finals of the prestigious team championship.
World Championships medallist Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and world number 8 doubles duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy produced memorable performances and won the tie in first three games itself. Sen gave India a 1-0 lead with a come-from-behind win over world number five Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 8-21 21-17 21-16.
The doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then defeated Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19. In the second singles, Srikanth then produced a fine performance to outclass Asian games gold medallist Jonatan Christie 21-15, 23-21 to seal the contest. It is India’s maiden medal and that too Gold in this tournament.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Indian team on thier epic win. Mr Modi said that the entire nation is elated by India winning the Thomas Cup. He wished the team for their future endeavours. He hoped that this win will motivate many upcoming sportspersons. Mr Modi also interacted with the players of the winning team on phone.
Kidambi Srikanth said that it was his absolute honour to have spoken to the honourable PM. In a tweet, he said, PM’s words of support makes this success sweeter and stronger.
Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur also congratulated Indian team for winning the Thomas Cup. He said, this extraordinary feat, with successive victories over Malaysia, Denmark and Indonesia, calls for matching honour by the nation. The Sports Minister also announced a cash award of One crore rupees for the team to acknowledge this unparalleled feat.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar and several other leaders also congratulated the Indian team.
Celebrities from the sports world and other fields wished Indian team on the winning the cup. Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ajay Devgan, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and several other prominent persons took to twitter to greet the team.