Thomas and Uber Cup 2024: Indian men’s badminton team make quarter-finals with 5-0 win over England

The Indian men’s badminton team blanked England 5-0 in their second Group C encounter to secure a place in the Thomas and Uber Cup 2024 quarter-finals in Chengdu, People’s Republic of China on Monday.

World Championships bronze medallist HS Prannoy got the ball rolling for India with a straight-game victory over world No. 106 Harry Huang of England. Prannoy, ninth in the badminton world rankings, took 42 minutes to secure a 21-15, 21-15 victory.

“The idea today was to be as clinical as possible because we saw against Thailand that one result here and there could have affected us. Personally, I am happy that I gave the team a winning start as it also helps my confidence going forward,” said Prannoy, who had lost the opening match against Thailand to Kunlavut Vitidsarn.

The world No. 3 pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were put under some pressure by 19th-ranked Ben Lane and Sean Vendy.

The English duo managed to force a decider after winning the second game. However, Satwik-Chirag remained unfazed and used their big-match experience to win 21-17, 19-21, 21-15 in one hour and five minutes.

Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth effectively sealed the tie for India with a 21-16, 21-11 victory over Nadeem Dalvi in a contest that lasted just over 30 minutes. World No. 13 Lakshya Sen was rested for this tie.

MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila beat Rory Easton and Alex Green 21-17, 21-19 in the fourth tie before world No. 36 Kiran George completed the sweep with a 21-18, 21-12 victory over world No. 209 Cholan Kayan of England.

The Indian men’s team defeated Thailand 4-1 in the opening group-stage encounter and will face record 14-time Thomas Cup champions Indonesia in the final group match on Wednesday. Indonesia have also won both their matches so far.

The Indian women’s team has also booked its place in the last eight with identical 4-1 wins over Canada and Singapore in their two matches so far.