India secured a historic win in the Thomas Cup when they handed a 3-0 thrashing to 14-time champions Indonesia at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sunday, May 15. It was the first time that the Indian shuttlers had won the gold at the Thomas Cup, and set the stage for Indian badminton to build on their titles after winning this prestigious team event.
Sports Tak caught up with one of the stars of the team, HS Prannoy for an exclusive interview, and the 29-year-old was ecstatic at finally winning a team competition with India, among other things.
Here are excerpts from the interview:
Congratulations on winning the Thomas Cup! After winning the title on Sunday, what changes have you noticed in the team?
Don't know much about the changes, but I am quite excited. I don't think anyone of us thought that we would win the Thomas Cup. But we always believed that this team can do something. Before we came, we had team meetings. During the general discussion, it was clear that everyone knew that this was the team which can beat top teams in the world. Winning a tournament is always tough.
Playing well can be done every once in a while, but winning is very tough. Because there are a lot of things that need to come into place, but I am so happy that everything came together on the day (of the final) and everyone played more than their best. To beat Indonesia 3-0 is not easy at all because we all know their history in this competition. They have won the Thomas Cup 14 times. They know how to approach this tournament. So, beating such a team is not at all easy. Full credit goes to the whole team.
Indian badminton has changed a lot globally over the years. Tell us more about this.
The win has not yet completely sunk in. It will take some time. But whenever I see the medal, I wonder, 'Is this reality, or just a dream?' It is a collective effort of all the things that have happened over the years in Indian badminton in the last one decade. We have been slowly progressing as a nation to become better. The individual performances will keep coming. A lot of players have individually given a lot of good performances to the country. As a team, we could never give big results. I think our biggest result (before the Thomas Cup triumph) would be the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold.
But other than that, whenever it comes to world team events, we could never be at the top. So, when we came here, this was our main discussion. 'Ek baar toh ye jitna hai' (atleast once we have to win). Because everyone knows how prestigious this event is... This win was not for us, its for the next generation. Because the budding shuttlers out there will see us and think that we can win such events.
What was the strategy of the team?
The quarterfinals were the biggest hurdle. Because we did not have a medal in so many years. There was a lot of pressure, especially on me, because I was playing the last match. After we won that much it became a little easy because we knew that we were in the title race. In the team meetings we were discussing this only, that whichever team we played, we need to keep the spirit at the highest level... Whatever happens, the decisions should be taken together. Everybody should be in the court, mentally together with the team for whatever the team needs.
This kind of talk gave a lot of motivation to everyone out there. That is why we could pull off matches like the one against Denmark. They will always play well in team events so to beat them we always need something extra.
Do you feel that Indian badminton has absolutely transformed?
It has been transforming over the years. But this is a big win for everyone out there. I think to believe as a team, such a collective effort is quite tough. Quite a few things should fall in place. It was very important that people recognize India as a world beater in team events. As a team, this is one of the biggest victories to cherish. And now we have to look forward to the next decade. We as a country are a superpower in this sport and this is the first step towards this.
