Indian men’s badminton team loses 3-2 to China in Horsens, Denmark at Thomas Cup 2026 Group A; advances as runners-up
Thomas Cup 2026: Indian men’s badminton team pushes China to the brink but lose 3-2
Thomas Cup 2026: Indian badminton team pushes China to the brink but lose 3-2
Both Ayush Shetty and HS Prannoy beat higher-ranked opponents in the five-match tie. The quarter-final line-up will be decided after all group stage matches are completed.
TheIndian men’s badminton teamput on a fight in its final Group A match of theThomas Cup 2026but suffered a 3-2 defeat against the People’s Republic of China in Horsens, Denmark, on Wednesday.
India, the Thomas Cup 2022 champions, had already qualified for the quarter-finals following 4-1 and 5-0 wins against Canada and Australia, respectively, in their first two matches.
The defending champions China remained unbeaten to top the group, with India advancing as runners-up. The quarter-final line-up will be decided at the end of all the group stage games on Wednesday.
China suffered a setback ahead of the tie with world No. 1 Shi Yuqi sitting out of the contest due to illness. However, the Chinese line-up remained formidable with Olympic medallists and top-10 players in the team.
RisingIndian badminton playerAyush Shettyand world championships bronze medallistHS Prannoywon their matches.
Meanwhile,Paris 2024semi-finalistLakshya Sen, Asian Games gold medal-winning pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and the men’s doubles duo of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun were unable to turn the tide in their respective matches.
Lakshya Sen, India’s top-ranked men’s singles player at world No. 11, lost to world No. 7 and Asian Games champion Li Shifeng 21-19, 8-21, 21-12 in the first rubber.
Lakshya dominated the second game after losing a close first game, which was level at 19-19. However, Lakshya lost steam in the final game to go down in one hour and 14 minutes.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, meanwhile, went down against the Paris 2024 silver medallists and world No. 5 pair of Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-13, 13-21, 26-24.
The Chinese duo started well and headed into the first break with a narrow 11-9 lead. However, Sat-Chi could only win four points after the break and lost the opener.
Satwik-Chirag reversed the score to take the second game and with momentum on their side, were leading the decider 16-12 before the Chinese pair mounted a comeback and levelled the match at 18-18.
Satwik and Chirag saved five match points but Liang Weikang and Wang Chang eventually sealed the contest in one hour and seven minutes.
With the tie on the line, world No. 18 Ayush Shetty pulled off a 17-21, 21-13, 21-15 win against 15th-ranked Weng Hongyang.
However, India lost the next doubles rubber, with Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun going down to He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu 21-17, 21-13 in 35 minutes.
World No. 35 HS Prannoy, however, made the scoreline respectable with a 20-22, 21-19, 21-11 win over 23rd-ranked Lu Guangzu in one hour and 11 minutes.
On Tuesday, the Indian women’s badminton team lost its final group tie in the Uber Cup against China and could not make it to the knockout stages.
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