Srikanth & Co. assure India of at least a bronze at Thomas Cup

Indian men's badminton team scripted a memorable 3-2 win over Malaysia to enter the semifinals of Thomas Cup for the first time in 43 years but the women's side bowed out after losing 0-3 to Thailand in the Uber Cup here on Thursday. India is thus assured of at least a bronze at the Thomas Cup. The country has not won a medal at the event since 1979. India had bagged three bronze in the past when they reached inter-zonal finals. However, it is the first time since the change in the qualifying format that the country won a medal at the prestigious tournament.

Up against a team that has won the title five times, the world number 8 pairing of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, world championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy rose to the occasion to see India home. India will next take on either Korea or Denmark. A lot of expectation rode on world championships bronze winner Lakshya Sen but he couldn't go the distance in the opening singles, losing 21-23 9-21 to reigning world champion Lee Zii Jia in 46 minutes. With the Malaysian fans thronging the Impact Arena, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy took to the court and the duo dished out a superlative performance to outwit world number 13 Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin 21-19 21-15 to bring India back in the five-match tie. It was an all-out attack in the final phase of the second game which saw the Indian pair set up five match points with Chirag converting with a smash, leaving the Indian camp all pumped up. Srikanth rode on his superior and varied strokeplay to outclass world number 46 NG Tze Yong 21-11 21-17 and give India a 2-1 lead. The world number 45 combination of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala were handed the