Indian Men's Badminton Team Creates History, Reaches Thomas Cup Final
HS Prannoy produced a lion-hearted effort in the decisive fifth match as the Indian men's badminton team scripted history by reaching the title clash of the Thomas Cup Final for the first time ever with a 3-2 victory over Denmark in an edge-of-the-seat semifinal in Thailand. The Indian team, which never went past the semi-finals after 1979, showed tremendous fighting spirit as it came from a match down to outwit the 2016 champions. While world championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth and world number 8 doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty kept India in the hunt, it was once again left to Prannoy to take the team home when the tie was locked 2-2. Up against world number 13 Rasmus Gemke, Prannoy suffered an ankle injury after slipping on the front court while going for a return but the Indian continued after taking a medical timeout. He looked in pain and his on-court movement also looked restricted but despite all odds, he produced a sensational performance to come up trumps 13-21 21-9 21-12 to etch India's name in the history books.
