Badminton BWF Thomas Cup final 2022: Historic victory for India who beat Indonesia 3-0, re-live all the action as it happened
India become the sixth nation to lift the Thomas Cup by beating the defending champions Indonesia at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. Re-live all the action as it happened.
Badminton
The 2022 BWF Thomas Cup, badminton's world men's team championship, saw an historic victory for India who clinched the title for the very first time by defeating the defending champions Indonesia 3-0.
It was a fairy-tale ending for the squad who were playing in their first final of the tournament. With a team that included rising star Lakshya Sen, World Tour winners Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth, they managed to clinch the title in a dominating fashion.
India have certainly announced themselves as a force in the men's team world championship by beating the most successful nation in the tournament's history, denying Indonesia their 15th Thomas Cup title.
Scroll down to follow all the action from the Impact Arena in Bangkok as it happened and you can even re-watch the event on Olympic Channel in certain territories.
5:10pm - India clinch an historic Thomas Cup title
India dethrones Indonesia in the final of the 2022 Thomas Cup Finals to become the sixth nation to lift the trophy in the men’s team world championships’ 73-year-old history
Lakshya Sen sewed the seeds of hope with a come-from-behind victory over Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pulled off a similar feat when they saved four match points in their battle against Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo to double the lead.
With momentum on their side, Kidambi Srikanth sealed the historic feat by holding his nerve and beating Jonatan Christie.
Results recap: India 3-0 Indonesia
- MS1: Lakshya Sen beat Anthony Sinisuka Ginting – 8-21, 21-17, 21-16
- MD 1: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty beat Mohammad Ahsan & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo - 18-21, 23-21, 21-19
- MS2: Srikanth Kidambi beat Jonatan Christie - 21-15, 23-21.
4:48pm - Kidambi Srikanth seals Thomas Cup winning point for India
India have won the Thomas Cup thanks to Kidambi Srikanth’s win over Jonatan Christie 21-15, 23-21.
It was Christie who reach the first game point with a lovely drop shot as he aimed to send the second singles to a decider.
However Kidambi levelled the score and saved yet another game point.
The former world No.1 then edged ahead, held his nerves and clinched the Thomas Cup winning point.
Tie: Indonesia 0-3 India
4:21pm - Kidambi Srikanth one game away from Thomas Cup glory
India's Kidambi Srikanth has taken the opening game against Indonesia's Jonatan Christie 21-15.
Srikanth who is ranked three places lower than the 2018 Asian Games champion led pretty much the entire way as he pulled away towards the end to clinch the upper hand.
The Indian has enjoyed quite a good run in this tournament, winning all his matches apart from the final group-stage fixture against Wang Tzu Wei from Chinese Taipei.
The Indonesian fans inside the Impact Arena have been somewhat muted as they anxiously look to Christie, who delivered the Thomas Cup winning point in Denmark a year ago, to this time deliver a point that will keep their title defence hopes alive.
Tie: Indonesia 0-2 India
4:06pm - Chirag Shetty speechless after clinching win
Chirag Shetty was barely able to speak to reporters after the match, after all his celebration screaming, but nonetheless he shared what the win means to him.
I’m speechless, it’s simply incredible the way the Indian team is playing right now with Lakshya (Sen) taking the first singles for us.”
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy chipped in to share what he felt was key to their victory today
“ We kept clam, even when we were down in the match, and slowly it [the points] came. We didn’t want to think about the result, we wanted to do well. So luckily we won and I’m happy with the way we played and the team is going well.
3:45pm - Rankireddy and Shetty win
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and won the deciding game to clinch the match 18-21, 23-21, 21-19.
The Indians held the upper hand early in the rubber, but Ahsan and Sukamuljo levelled at 11-11 and moved into the lead. But there was nothing separating the two with they drew level again at 17-17.
Rankireddy and Shetty who survived four match points in the second game, finally had their first match point opportunity but Ahsan smashed the Indonesians to safety. But on the second time of asking the world No.8 pairing sealed the win .
India now have a two point advantage over Indonesia and are just one point away from an historic Thomas Cup title.
Tie: Indonesia 0-2 India
3:24pm - Rankireddy and Shetty survive to push match to decider
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty survived four match points to comeback and snatch the win in the second game, 23-21.
The Indians led in the opening stages of the second game but Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo showed their prowess as they clawed level and went on to hold the first match point opportunity.
Rankireddy and Shetty refused to give in and fought their way back with some extraordinary display of badminton and managed to scrape ahead and win the game.
The match goes to a rubber and as the pressure mounts on both sides.
2:50pm - Indonesian doubles trying to restore order
Indonesian scratch pairing of Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo have got off to the right start and currently lead after winning their opening match 21-18.
India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are not too far away and have managed to stay close to the scratch pairing throughout the first game. They will look to exploit the new partnership and pull a game back to give them a chance of staying in this match.
Although both Indonesian players have been ranked world No.1 with their regular partners, this new pairing between the two certainly has its moments of weakness. Nonetheless they currently hold the advantage
Tie: Indonesia 0-1 India
2:42pm - Lakkhya Sen "This one if for the team"
After scoring the first point of the tie, Lakshya Sen was delighted, sharing:
"I was going to play from the better end in the last 11 points of the game, so I was really pumped up.
I’m happy that I pulled out a win the third game. In the closing stages I was really nervous and I was trying to control it with deep breaths
This one is for the team, they have been backing me through my bad performances, or when I played well and couldn't get a win. I’m happy that I pulled out the first point for the team."
2:25pm - Lakshya Sen stuns Anthony Ginting
Lakshya Sen has clinched the first point for India after defeating Anthony Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-16.
The start the of the third game saw Ginting get off to the better start, but this time around Sen did not allow the Indonesian to run away with the game. The 20-year-old kept himself within striking distance all the way up to the mid-game interval when they swapped ends.11-7
After the changeover, Sen was able to close the gap and draw level with Ginting 12-12. The Indian striked back with his own arsenal of shots which had the Indonesian struggling.
The momentum in the latter half on this match was with the lower ranked Sen who moved into the leads 18-15. Both players a certainly left it all on the court and it was Sen who managed to edge ahead and pull of a stunning win over Ginting.
Tie: Indonesia 0-1 India
1:58pm - Lakshya responds, match goes to decider
After being stunned by Anthony Ginting in the opening game, Lakshya Sen has responded in the second game, winning it 21-17.
The Indian, making his Thomas Cup debut, came out punching and opening up a solid lead in the opening stages. Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Ginting responded, and managed to close the deficit to just two points.
But Lakshya held firm and upped his pace and attack to clinch the win and force a third game.
This will be interesting to see as both players will swap ends mid-way through the final game, with Ginting starting on the more favourable side.
39 minutes into the match and it is one game each!
1:32pm - Anthony Ginting on fire
The momentum is with Anthony Ginting who is playing on the more favourable side of the court, playing against the drift, and brimming with confidence.
The crown inside the packed Impact Arena in Bangkok are also in full swing, cheering on every hit of the shuttle. Chants of "INDONESIA"" to the beat of a drum and tambourines almost down out the commentators.
Ginting is looking fast, accurate and extremely dangerous at this opening stage, enjoying a twelve-point run, to claim the opening game 21-8 in just 17 minutes.
The players swap ends now, and Lakshya will need to respond from the more favourable side of the court.
Tie: Indonesia 0-0 India
1:12pm - Ginting and Sen take to the court
On court at the moment are the first men's singles players from both countries.
Anthony Ginting has had a torrid start to this campaign, losing all three of his group-stage matches before finding his form when it matters the most, in the knockout stage where he beat China's Zhao Jun Peng in the quarter-finals before disposing of Momota Kento in the semi-finals.
Lakshya Sen meanwhile delivered in his two group-stage matches, he wasn't fielded in the third. He was back on court for the quarter-finals where he went down to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia and then suffered another defeat to Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in the semi-finals. He will certainly be looking to end his campaign on a win and shared with us in this video below how he hopes to stay at the sharp end of the world rankings.
1:02pm - 2022 Thomas Cup Final line-up
After seven days of competition the 2022 Thomas Cup Final the title will be contested between defending champions Indonesia and first-time finalists India.
Here's how the teams line-up for today:
- MS1: Anthony Sinisuka Ginting v Lakshya Sen
- MD1: Mohammad Ahsan & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo v Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty
- MS2: Jonatan Christie v Kidambi Srikanth
- MD2: Fajar Alfian & Muhammad Rian Ardianto v M.R. Arjun & Dhruv Kapila
- MS3: Shesar Hiren Rhustavito v Prannoy H. S.