Thomas Cup 2024 QF Highlights: Lakshya the solitary winner as India’s title defence ends 1-3 after defeat against China

Lakshya Sen reflects on his win against Li Shi Feng: "Conditions were a bit tricky and home crowd was pumped up because they were 2-0 up. The do-or-die situation did play in my head in first game. But the first two games got over quickly and weren’t tiring so the decider was all about controlling the net and being steady”.

HS Prannoy (Via BWF): “We had a long match yesterday while China had an off day. It may have also played a part once the rallies got long in the third game. But I am happy with the way I fought and will take a lot of learning from this tournament.'

HS Prannoy, usually a slow starter, turned the tables and played aggressively from the word go but Shi Yu Qi before fought back to win 15-21, 21-11, 21-14. Men's doubles was always going to critical for India's chances but world No 1 Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang defeated Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty 21-15, 11-21, 21-12.

Lakshya Sen was India's brightest spark as he won 13-21, 21-8, 21-14 against Li Shi Feng. But India needed one point from the first two ties to give Kiran George a fighting chance, it wasn't to be. World No 11 Ren Xiang Yu and He Ji Ting were overwhelming favourites against Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek K as the Indians went down 10-21, 10-21.

That India played within 24 hours of their marathon fight against Indonesia last night didn't help either. That defeat also meant India got the worst possible draw for the quarterfinals. 

So Kento Momota's international career ends without a match having to be played as Malaysia beat Japan 3-1. What a career, though, and what a player. Go well, King Kento.

Read Shivani Naik's tribute:

New Olympic champions get crowned all the time. Every four years, at any rate. But Kento Momota will be remembered wistfully amongst the badminton legions, as one that got away. The crown eluded him, but he might well endure in public memory and shuttle’s mythos longer than anyone else with gold around the neck.

An overwhelming favourite a year out from the Tokyo Games, Momota finished with one of the most underwhelming heartbreaks there, as he exited the last Olympics at the first stage. On Thursday, less than 100 days away from the Paris spectacle, Momota announced he was letting go of this ultimate dream. Unable to qualify, ranked outside Top 50, the Japanese dwelled on retirement after the Thomas Cup that would be his last assignment.

The 29-year-old refused to shed tears in his retirement press conference for all the missed chances, the wretched turn of events with a horrific car accident in 2020, and for what could have been.

Shivani Naik's pithy (but important) takeaway: India's Thomas Cup defense ends. No biggie. Olympics the main focus this year.

Thus ends India's Thomas Cup defence. Truly believe they were capable of at least returning to the podium if the draw was kinder (absolute worst luck in both draws). But what will sting (them/us) is they still had their chances.

CHINA WIN 4-1: India's title defence ends. Delight in Bangkok, heartbreak in Chengdu. The world champions go from reigning to former. That thrilling defeat against Indonesia proved to be very costly in the end. Dhruv-Sai go down in straight games. 

Steen Pedersen on commentary: India little bit unlucky to draw Indonesia in the group and then China in the quarters. They are definitely among the 3-5 best teams here. The other two teams they could have drawn in QF were Japan and Denmark and both of those would have ben closer matches in my opinion. 

It's one way traffic again after a tight start, similar trajectory to the opening game. Manu Attri with the coaching talk along with Mathias Boe... but now it is more evident that the title defence is about to end.

HE JE TING! What a backhand smash winner that is. Stunningly difficult to play that on a singles court but to find the angle on a doubles court is just ridiculous. 

Hard enough as it is but the Indians are missing some easy putaways too. The Chinese are back in the lead. 

Dhruv and Sai are staying in touch once again at the start, the question is sustaining. The Indian bench still seems to be in good spirits. 

China one game away: That's why they are a scratch pairing... Dhruv and Sai looking at each other as the shuttle lands in between them. Game points galore, He-Ren need only one. 

Super defence from the Chinese when the Indians managed to exert some pressure. All going one way. 

If Ren was perhaps an easy target, he too is stepping up now with winners and great serves. The Indians are under relentless pressure. 

Damaging little phase for the Indians here. They really need to take the opening game to put some scoreboard pressure on the Chinese, but seems to be slipping away from them 

The Chinese bench is super animated! Bellowing out instructions and it is working for now as they take a lead into the interval. 

Shivani Naik: Mathias Boe looked like he would single handedly give Sai Pratheek birthday bumps on the eve of turning 24, after the Bangalorean smashed into the net. But Dhruv-Pratheek doing well here to stay 10-9 against He/Ren. They do start well but can fade out thereafter. Hopefully they can push further.

Oh, a bad miss there for 8-8 by the Indians! Really short lift but wasn't put away. Can't miss out on such chances. 

He Je Ting has been around for a long time. He has been No 11 & No 12 in men's doubles with 2 partners (one here) and No 8 & No 10  in mixed doubles with two partners. So India's best bet is to target Ren perhaps, which the commentators reckon is happening here so far. 

Dhruv and Sai had game points against the Indonesians in the opening game (who are really good as well). So let's see if they can go a step higher. 

It's MD2 time. India's most obvious weakness. But on the flip side, perhaps a little of unknown to the opponents. He Ji Ting – Ren Xiang Yu Vs Dhruv Kapila – Sai Pratheek. The world No 11 vs an unranked scratch pairing. Logic dictates one winner. But can India expect a miracle? 

Shivani Naik, feeling vindicated: It's very easy to plan to mess with Li Shifeng's game. Tough to execute though - Make him go for the lines, prolong rallies and cramp his attack. Sen pulls it off expertly.

Lakshya puts India on board: Big roar, the often-seen racket flip, and a charge towards his teammates! Lakshya Sen keeps India alive... just about. Returns for an embrace with his old foe and then one with coach Gopi and father DK Sen. Fine performance by the Indian after a blip in the opening game. 

Match points galore for Lakshya.

Lakshya with another lovely winner. 

37-shot rally! And it goes Li Shi Feng's way.  That is a good sign for him, because he hasn't been winning too many of those exchanges. He looks like he is panting at the mini break after the point though. And promptly, Lakshya takes the next point 

Shivani Naik (taking a dig at the blogger): Reasons he wins have been the same for 3 years now. Reasons for losing too are constant. The next level is needed. Like Genghis Khan said, the beauty of an action lies in its completion. He can't close out against top names like Kunlavut and Christie. Li Shifeng isn't as brilliant as Vinayakk M makes him out to be. But to fight for that Olympic medal, he will need better finishing.

Lakshya, Lakshya, Lakshya! Three straight points after the break for Li. 

Lakshya with the lead at the change of ends and he gets to finish from the better side too. Looking good here for him but needs to be vary of Li finding his attacking rhythm (and him losing his)

LAKSHYA SLUMP ALERT: This... this right there is his problem. He has started missing the lines again. And Li makes it 7-7. A much-need winner at the net however brings the serve and lead back to him. 

And another stunning point on defence from Lakshya. Li's jump smashes are just coming back on repeat mode. 

And on cue from Gill Clark: 'He's playing extremely well now isn't he, Lakshya Sen.' It has been fabulous to watch this phase from the Indian. It's why what we saw in the opening game that is jarring in comparison. 

Lakshya is playing so well right now. Too bad the tie is all but over for India but chuffed to see how he has recovered from the poor opening game. Another sensational touch at the net. Another sensational defensive backhand that forces the error from Li. 

Game 2, Lakshya: Some of the longer rallies earlier in this game seem to have take the wind out of Li's sails, quite possibly a ploy not to overexert either when Lakshya seemed set to take this game. But Lakshya does what he has do. Easy second game, but expect the decider to be a slugfest at least early on. 

Li has given up on this game evidently. Lakshya strolling. 

Shivani Naik: Sen has a Breaker's bounce back from a dive, similar to how freestyle street dancers leap off their palms. It's like his left palm has trampoline patches. You suspect, the defense is also his confidence-trigger. Flashy defense, measured boring attack should do the trick really

43 shot rally and it goes Lakshya's way. Li tried to up the pace there but Lakshya was ready for it. 

Li Shi Feng looks a little more tired than Lakshya is to be honest, which is a surprise given how much recovery time he has had. 

Shivani Naik: That's the way to hit a 6-6! Striking the shuttle high, alert in fast exchanges and a cross kill with Shifeng's mammoth frame not in the same lane. Wretched luck next point despite him picking a net chord. But Sen is fighting it out here. His defense makes you defer blinking till. Sen leads 11-7 at the break

On a run of 5 straight points, Lakshya takes the lead into the mid-game interval. Defence, as always, is at the heart of how well Lakshya plays, but he is backing up with the right choice of smashes. 

More Lakshya signature defence! Body smash from Li, expertly blocked back into the empty corner. In a good flow now. 

That's more like the Lakshya we know. Longer rallies are usually his jam. And he stays patient to draw an error out of Li. 

Lakshya staying in touch here in the 2nd game, has recovered some of the momentum he lost so badly at the backend of the opener. 

Great defensive get at  the net from Lakshya, brilliant dive forward but then he nets the shuttle shortly after. 

Shivani Naik: That's two of the match's longest rallies where Sen played well but smudged it with errors going long. Getting the length right is a pretty big deal in Sen's head, though he should back himself a tad more.

Lakshya is supposedly playing from the better end but still Li dictates that 35-shot rally, further concerning signs for the Indian there. 

Shivani Naik: The Lakshya Sen funk sets in. 9 straight points ceded at start of typing this. He gets into these phases where rock bottom isn't just deep, but spaciously wide. With a bean bag to brood upon. Very tough to explain what happens to Sen in these clumps. It's easy to say he switches off or grudgingly give credit to Li Shifeng here. He has even started hopping a few to shake off the doldrums. A scolding like Prakash Padukone unleashed ought not to be needed every time. Sen is a far better player than what Li Shifeng made him look like. Keeping him away from net seems to work like a nasty harm-charm.

Game 1, LSF: Lakshya went into the interval leading 11-8 but Li Shi Feng has come storming back to take the opening game. Lakshya needs a reset. 

That's a rally right out of the Kunlavut-Kodai playbook, a longggg rally. 68 shots! Lakshya with a diving retrieval around the 35-40 shot mark, but makes the error in the end eventually. 

Well, how did Li miss that? Open court in front of him but he puts a smash wide. Gift for Lakshya but too little too late. 

Li Shi Feng is on fire at the moment. NINE STRAIGHT POINTs. Li's strength is his jump smash and he is unfurling it in full flow. 

Lakshya's game has unravelled post interval. This has been a problem area for him, when he starts losing points, he loses a whole bunch. Seven straight from Li Shi Feng. 

On a run of FOUR straight points Lakshya takes a nice lead into the mid-game interval. 

The commentators mention how late India's match ended last night and it can't be ideal for their recovery. Gill Clark quipped that even the commentators didn't sleep till after 2 am and we have a quip back from Shivani. 

Shivani Naik: 

Yes Gill, we too didn't sleep till 3 a.m. But that's because we were watching Korean dubbed movie 'Veteran' while dread-missing Seo Seung-jae.

Aur bhi challenger hai Olympic gold ke, China ke siwa :)

Here's a look at the H2H between the two, Lakshya has enjoyed the better of their meetings that have been going on since their junior days.