File photograph of H.S. Prannoy. who returned to successful methods, defeating Harry Huang 21-15 21-15 to offer India a lead through the Thomas Cup match in opposition to England in Chengdu. India defeated England to enter the quarterfinal of the Thomas Cup.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Defending champions India sailed to the knockout stage of the Thomas Cup with a 5-0 rout of England in a Group C contest in Chengdu on April 29.
India, who defeated Thailand 4-1 of their opening tie, notched up a second consecutive win to qualify for the quarterfinals.
HS Prannoy returned to successful methods, defeating Harry Huang 21-15 21-15 to offer India a 1-0 lead.
“To give a start to the team is really important, it gives a good boost to the team to go ahead. It is really important to finish off the matches clinically, you saw against Thailand one match was bad for us. So it’s important to finish off the matches clinically,” Prannoy stated after his match.
The star pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty was stretched to 3 video games by Ben Lane and Sean Vendy within the first doubles fixtures earlier than 2022 world champions bronze medallist picked up a 21-17 19-21 21-15 win in a single hour 5 minutes.
Former world primary Kidambi Srikanth recorded a 21-16 21-11 victory over Nadeem Dalvi to offer India an unassailable 3-0 lead.
“Happy with the way both the matches have gone for me (in the tournament). There is a lot of pressure on players to win games. I feel I have played little easier opponents so far. But from now we will face better opponents and I have to be my best,” Srikanth stated.
On his current kind, Srikanth stated “I’m playing well but not able to pull off the matches. Obviously people will compare how I was playing from 2021-2022. I was in my 20s then.” The second doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila then brushed apart Rory Easton and Alex Green 21-17 21-19.
In the ultimate match, 24-year-old Kiran George prevailed 21-18 21-12 over Cholan Kayan to wrap up the fixture.
India will tackle group toppers and report 14-time champions Indonesia of their closing group fixture on Wednesday.
