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New Delhi, India
Indian men's badminton team scripted history in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday (May 15) as they went on to lift their maiden Thomas Cup title after stunning 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 in the final. It was a dominant performance from India in the all-important summit clash as they wrapped up the final winning three matches on the trot.
India won their first-ever Thomas Cup title in the 73-year-long history of the tournament. Lakshya Sen and Kidamb Srikanth won their respective singles matches while the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won their doubles match to propel India to a historic triumph.
In an exclusive interaction with WION, Indian badminton great Pullela Gopichand labelled the historic win as the biggest ever in the history of Indian badminton. Gopichand, who is the last Indian to have won the prestigious All England Championships and is currently India's chief national badminton coach, said the only thing that could better the Indian men's team's Thomas Cup win was if both the men's and women's team won gold medals at the coveted tournament.
"Every time I think of the sport, I think this is the best it can happen and every time we have surpassed those expectations. But I think this is really one of the biggest ever wins," Gopichand told WION in an exclusive interview.
"The only that can probably beat it is if you can win both the men's and women's medals together. This is huge, this is as big as it gets in terms of team championships at the highest level," he added.
Gopichand, one of the most dedicated coaches in the Indian badminton circuit, is often credited to have nurtured the current crop of stars in Indian badminton. He has been running the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad which has produced a number of top shuttlers including the likes of Srikanth and PV Sindhu among others.
A few years ago, it was a distant dream for Indian badminton to compete against the likes of Indonesia, Malaysia and Denmark, who are powerhouses in the sport. However, the Indian team defeated all three countries on their way to a historic win at the Thomas Cup 2022 this year.
Explaining the reason behind India's exceptional performance at the Thomas Cup this year, Gopichand said the senior players in the side had personal pride at stake and had a lot to prove to their critics. He also lauded the team members for complimenting each other well throughout their campaign.
"I think it's a combination of things. We can call it a team championship but still each one goes out there and, plays their own match, comes out and turns out it adds to the squad unlike hockey, football or cricket.
But I think what is important is that these players have peaked at the right time. They are playing their best badminton at the right time. Also, each one had their personal pride at stake, they were competing against each other but were also complementing each other," said Gopichand.
Gopichand also detailed how the likes of Srikanth and HS Prannoy have proved the naysayers wrong while calling the young Lakshya Sen the rising star of Indian badminton. Sen had gotten the better of Toy Olympics bronze medallist Anthony Ginting in the Thomas Cup final while Srikanth defeated Jonathan Christie in straight sets.
The doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag arguably had the toughest tie in the final as they were up against the talented and experienced duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. After losing the first game 21-18 against the Indonesia pair, Satwik and Chirag staged a comeback for the ages.
The Indian pair clinched the second game 23-21 before taking the final game 21-19. Gopichand said almost each of the senior players in the squad had headed into the tournament with a point to prove and they fought like a team to make history by winning the most coveted team tournament in world badminton.
"Lakshya has been a rising star. He has done exceptionally well in the last few months. He has been winning events after events and has been phenomenal. But Srikanth has had his ups and downs. He lost out on the Olympics and big medals when it mattered. He has been up and down with his form. People have also doubted Prannoy's presence in the team and I think he needed to prove a point," said Gopichand, who has had a huge role to play in the rise of Indian badminton in the last decade.
Also Read: India winning Thomas Cup is like winning World Cup of football, says badminton great Gopichand
"The doubles players Satwik and Chirag probably wanted to prove a point as it has always been the case that singles players are good but doubles are not. So it was like there was something at stake which was larger - personal pride combined with the country's emotions. There was a lot of good spirits around and each one celebrated the other's victory.
The whole camaraderie, the whole issue of personal pride and country came together to make a fine team," the chief national coach explained.