Indian men's team off to a flying start in their Thomas Cup campaign with an emphatic 5-0 win over Germany on Sunday (May 8).
Lakshya Sen, World Championships bronze medallist, led from the front with a facile 21-16, 21-13 win over World no.64 Max Weisskirchen. The doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had to dig deep as they were stretched to a three gamer by Jones Ralfy Jansen and Marvin Seidel.
But the Indians managed to prevail 21-15, 10-21, 21-13 in the match lasting close to an hour.
World no.11 Kidambi Srikanth then eked out a 18-21, 21-9, 21-11 win over Kai Schafer after a sluggish start to give India an unassailable 3-0 lead in the Group C tie. MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila handed Bjarne Geiss and Jan Colin Voelker a 25-23, 21-15 defeat in the second men's doubles tie as Indian continued its dominant display.
HS Prannoy, ranked 23rd in the world, then hardly broke a sweat as he completed a 5-0 whitewash of Germany, with a 21-9, 21-9 win over Matthias Kicklitz.
It was a perfect start for the Indian men's team, which is searching for its maiden medal at the tournament.
No Indian men's team has ever reached the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup.
Last year, the men's team had signed off its campaign at the quarterfinal stage. Later in the day, the Indian women's team will open its campaign against Canada in Group D.
It was a perfect start for the Indian men's team, which is searching for its maiden medal at the tournament. No Indian men's team has ever reached the semifinals of the Thomas Cup. Last year, the men's team reached the quarterfinals before going out of the tournament. They will next play Canada on Monday followed by their final match against Chinese Taipei.
Later in the day, the women's team will open its Uber Cup campaign against Canada in Group D. World no 7 PV Sindhu headlines India's women's team. The other singles players in the mix are Aakarshi Kashyap (No 54), Ashmita Chaliha (64) and 14-year-old Unnati Hooda (No 240). The doubles contingent consists of Treesa Jolly, Tanisha Crasto, Shruti Mishra, Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker.
