India beat Canada 4-1 in Thomas Cup final opener
Lakshya Sen endured a tough loss, but Ayush Shetty and the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty registered wins as 2022 champions India notched up a commanding 4-1 win over Canada in their opening Group A tie of the Thomas Cup Finals on Friday.
After Lakshya’s spirited effort ended in an 18-21, 21-19, 21-10 loss to world number 13 Victor Lai, world number 4 Satwik and Chirag levelled the tie with a dominant 21-10, 21-11 win over Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Kevin Lee.
The 20-year-old Ayush, runner-up at the recent Asia Championships, then outwitted world Number 33 Brian Yang 21-13, 21-17 in 39 minutes to hand India a 2-1 lead. The second doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and M R Arjun sealed the tie for India with a convincing 21-7, 21-15 victory over Ty Alexander Lindeman and Nyl Yakura.
Kidambi Srikanth then outsmarted world No. 77 Joshua Nguyen 21-17, 21-12 in the inconsequential fifth match as India wrapped up the match 4-1 to be placed second in the table behind China.
China, 11-time winners and defending champions, beat Australia 5-0.
The top two teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the quarter-finals.
The Indian women’s team will face Denmark in their opening match of the Uber Cup later in the day.
Lakshya vs Lai
It turned into another energy-sapping contest, reminiscent of his All England semifinal, with Lakshya Sen and Victor Lai engaging in long, draining rallies.
Lakshya looked in control early, dictating the pace with precise net play and sharp smashes to dominate the opening exchanges.
Lai, however, began to find his rhythm late in the first game, narrowing the gap from 14-18, but the Indian did enough to close it out.
After the change of ends, Lai went for the big corner shots to surge to a 7-2 lead. The Indian continued to pressure his opponent with tight net play and deep returns, forcing errors. Lai used clever deception and taking pace off the shuttle to disrupt Lakshya’s rhythm. He moved ahead 11-7 at the mid-game interval.
A 45-shot rally, one of the longest of the match, ended with Lai finding the net, sparking a brief comeback as Lakshya clawed back to 12-12. The rallies grew increasingly intense, with both players trading blows in attritional exchanges.
Lai, however, managed to edge ahead again, and despite Lakshya staying within touching distance at 17-19, the Canadian held his nerve. With the Indian drawing level at 19-19 after Lai went long, the momentum briefly shifted, but Lai responded with a sharp net winner before sealing the game after a tight net duel.
In the decider, Lai took firm control early, racing to a 4-1 lead and extending it to 10-3 as Lakshya struggled to keep up with the pace and precision. Lai carried the advantage into the interval at 11-5 and never allowed the Indian to recover.
Though Lakshya fought through another series of gruelling rallies, Lai remained dominant, mixing cross-court net shots with powerful smashes to move to 16-8.
He eventually earned a string of match points and sealed the contest when Lakshya went long, getting his revenge for the Birmingham loss.
