Thomas Cup: Indian Men's Badminton Team Makes History With First-Ever Gold

In one of the most memorable moments for Indian sports, the men's badminton team beat 14-time champions and holders Indonesia in the final on Sunday to win a maiden gold medal at Thomas Cup. First-time finalists India produced a stunning performance in the final to blank Indonesia 3-0 and script history. It all started with 20-year-old Lakshya Sen beating Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Anthony Ginting. Doubles stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then gave India a 2-0 lead by beating Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19. And finally, Kidambi Srikanth sealed India's historic win by outclassing Jonatan Christie 21-15, 23-21.

It was the first time that India had even reached the final at Thomas Cup, but showed nerves of steel throughout in the final.

Lakshya Sen and doubles pairing of Rankireddy-Shetty both came back after losing their respective opening games.

In fact, Sen had been drubbed 8-21 in the opening game against Ginting. But he came back strongly to win the second game 21-17.

The Indian then put on a procession in the third, wowing all with the cat-like reflexes and stubborn defence to win game 21-16.

Rankireddy and Shetty then had the unenviable task of going up against Ahsan and Sukamuljo. The Indonesian pair won the opening game 21-18.

They then had a big lead in the second game but Rankireddy-Shetty came back from the dead, saving four match points to win the second game 23-21.

The decider was a hotly-contested affair with little to separate the two teams but in the end, the Indians kept their nerves to give the team a 2-0 lead.

Then came Srikanth's turn, The shuttler had been in top form throughout the tournament and once again came to the party.

He took just 19 minutes