Bangkok: He did it Thursday when he ensured a historic Thomas Cup medal for India by winning the deciding singles against Malaysia. Shuttler HS Prannoy was again in the thick of things Friday as India defeated Denmark 3-2 with the Indian winning the deciding rubber of the tie. The victory assured India’s entry into the final of the Thomas Cup for the first time since the tournament began in 1949. Now only Indonesia stand between India and a historic gold when the final comes off, Sunday.
It was as pulsating an affair as it was expected to be. Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen gave Denmark a flying start beating Lakshya Sen 21-13, 21-13. However, the Indian shuttlers never lost hope and came back strongly to etch their names in the history books of Indian badminton.
Next up was the ever-improving doubles combo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy. They defeated the Danish pair of Kim Astrup and Mathias Christiansen in a three-game thriller 21-18, 21-23, 22-20 in a match that lasted close to the 80 minutes.
With the scores level, all eyes were on Kidambi Srikanth. Could he pull it off against Anders Antonsen? Antonsen had defeated Srikanth twice in the past before. However, Srikanth came good when it mattered the most, and overcame the Danish challenge 21-18, 12-21, 21-15.
Not much was expected from the Indian doubles combo of Vishnuvardhan Panjala and Krishna Garaga in the fourth rubber and they went down tamely to Anders Skaruup Rasmussen and Frederik Sogaard 14-21, 13-21. The tie was level at two-all and all depended on Prannoy.
The Indian did not start off as he wanted to and lost the first game 13-21 to Rasmus Gemke. However, Prannoy shrugged off the momentary aberration and came back strongly to win the next two 21-9, 21-12 with ease and guarantee a silver medal for India. He had ensured India’s first medal in the history of the competition by ensuring a semifinal berth. He went a step further Friday and ensured a silver medal.
Prannoy played his heart out and when he finished off the match with a deft cross-court back-hand flick which caught Gemke on the wrong foot, there was not stopping of celebration.
A night to remember for Indian badminton.
PNN & Agencies