Thomas Cup 2024 Highlights: HS Prannoy the sole winner, Satwik-Chirag lose thriller; India to face China in quarterfinals

Not one, not two, not even 10... Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty saved as many as 12 match points against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri - Bagas Maulana in the Thomas Cup group-stage clash against Indonesia. Eventually, it was unlucky 13 for the Indians as their recent nemesis prevailed.

Satwik-Chirag were a game and 14-20 down. At that point, it seemed as if the match was as good as over. But on Satwik's serve, the Indians started to claw their way back. They have done this before, just earlier this year. But those were not match points, but game points at the Malaysia Open. But here, every one of those points were potential match-enders. But the Indians reeled off 6 straight points, targeting mostly Maulana. Then from 20-20, they saved two more to force a decider.

In Game 3, they trailed 15-20. Surely not again? Once again on Satwik's serve, they got to 19-20. But what could have been the greatest heist in Indian badminton history fell just short when Fikri, fittingly, closed it out. 

Confirmed, both of India's quarterfinals on Thursday:

Uber Cup, India vs Japan: 7 am IST
Thomas Cup, India vs China: 2.30 pm IST 

Unfortunate how it worked out for the Indian men's team, who finished a marathon match today and have to play again tomorrow. China meanwhile come into this with a rest day today.

Uber Cup quarterfinals. 7.00 am IST on Thursday.

No Akane Yamaguchi for Japan, Ashmita Chaliha vs Aya Ohori to start off in an all-left clash. 

WS1: Aya Ohori vs Ashmita Chaliha
WD1: Nami Matsuyama - Chiharu Shida vs Priya Konjengbam - Shruti Mishra
WS2: Nozomi Okuhara vs Isharani Baruah
WD2: Rena Miyaura - Ayako Sakuramoto vs Simran Singhi - Ritika Thaker
WS3: Tomoka Miyazaki vs Tanvi Sharma

China vs India

Japan vs Malaysia

Indonesia vs Korea

Denmark vs Chinese Taipei 

Seed 1: China

Seed 2: Denmark 

Seed 3: Indonesia

Seed 4: Japan 

India's possible opponents: China or Denmark or Japan. The draw ceremony is about to begin. 

Chico wins, Indonesia clinch the tie 4-1: The scoreline is slightly harsh on India but of course, numbers don't lie. Srikanth had two match points in Game 2 but is unable to convert. 

Seven match points for Chico. 

Shivani Naik: There's no Srikanth match if there's no decider with drama built in. 8-14 behind now. It's so wild even the commentator goes from 'good shot' to 'bad shot' in 10 seconds flat. The fifth rubber lament continues. But you can't peel your eyes away from this for hopes of an impossible comeback. Wry smiles.

This is now heading to a swift conclusion. Not much left to fight for. 

As we cross the 6-hour mark in the tie, Srikanth's winning streak in THomas Cup that started in Bangkok could be about to end. 

As Gill Clark points out, it is 11-6 in favour of Chico in all three games so far! Some coincidence that. Srikanth closed the gap in the 2nd half on both occasions. Does he have enough gas in the tank to do it again here? 

The errors are flowing from Srikanth's racket here. His perennial foe. 

A massive dive forward from Chico to return the shuttle, he gets back up and dives again on the turn and Srikanth has missed an easy winner. That is terrific from the Indonesian and equally poor from Sri. The court needs some heavy mopping now! So much sweat. 

Strong start from Chico to the decider. We are nearing six hours since the tie started. 

CHICO TAKES IT TO THE DECIDER: Srikanth misses the sideline with his smash, he is the kind of player who doesn't really know to play safe. High risk game and there it didn't pay off.

Chico saves another match point and now has another game point of his own, set up by a nice inside-out smash. 

Shivani Naik: The Kidambi Srikanth rollercoaster continues. One moment his serve return is swell getting Kashyap and Gopichand to high five for 19-19. Next he errs and scrunches his eyes for 19-20.  Moments later he has blitzed to net for match point. Then his backhand return is in net. And next Chico sends it long.  Back to match point. ALL This in no context fifth rubber. Only because it's Srikanth.

Srikanth has a match point but squanders it with an error. But a second match point coming soon for the Indian as Chico makes a futile review. 

Shivani Naik: Wonder if there's enough in Materials Chemistry to figure out a shoe sole that remains flat bottomed but doesn't slip as easily on sweat dripped badminton courts? Making the courts anti-slip is the obvious way forward... But surely the shoe sole can get a look in

Srikanth makes it 19-all but then pushes the shuttle long to give Chico a game point. And wow, what a save! Srikanth with a Matrix dodge to see the shuttle go long on his side and it's 20-20. 

Srikanth edges ahead but Chico levels it now and then go into the lead as Srikanth nets a backhand. 

And once again, Srikanth fights back in the game. Back level. 

Shivani Naik: That was Srikanth running rings around Chico who had to jump not quite hoops, but ad boards. The Indonesian defended well but Srikanth got in 3 outrageous placements. Chico chasing them went rabbitting out of bounds.

And Srikanth is closing in! The gap is down to 1 point, momentum on Sri's side.

#Chengdu2024 #ThomasUberCupFinals

I am guessing that is Chirag and Prannoy trying to catch a glimpse of Kento Momota on the other court as he wins yet another MS3 match on his international farewell. ?https://t.co/zO55h9Dz43 pic.twitter.com/qry18LZ60r

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 1, 2024

Funny moment there as Srikanth plays a stunning backhand block for a winner and Chico rushes to get to it, misses it and the momentum carries him into the next court.

#Chengdu2024 #ThomasUberCupFinals

Haha, Spot Chico! ?

Even coach Gopi had a good laugh there. https://t.co/zO55h9Dz43 pic.twitter.com/OKyc3YYzB6

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 1, 2024

Chico is now starting to create some separation. The match has gone against the grain so far, with the far side player having more joy in the opening 2 games. A change in drift perhaps? Chico with a big lead into the interval. 

There will be thrilling highs, there will be painfully excruciating lows. There will be a second where you feel why you ever got into this in the first place. But there will also be moments where you wouldn’t want it to end. When it is over, you will be glad to get out of it but also perhaps grateful for the experience of it all. Welcome aboard the Srikanth Kidambi rollercoaster.

Read more here.

Game 1, Srikanth: What a fightback from Sri! He looked off the pace early on but finishes the game on a run of 4 straight points. The winner to set up match point was a sensational hold-and-flick to the backcourt that made Gopichand really happy! 

Shivani Naik: That earlier point will be burnished in memory where Srikanth moved quickly to net for fast follow-up. And Prannoy applauded from sidelines. What legends these two have been for Indian men's singles badminton over the last 10 years. Giant kills. Titles. Gorgeous ruminating stylish games. Complete attacks. And all the frustrations. And heartbreaks on losses to be nursed 10 years later. Phases where Prannoy took out potential challengers to help Srikanth towards titles. Great team players. Thomas Cup champs. 
Don't know if they are thick friends. But Srikanth-Prannoy will be missed after they call it a day.

Oh no what a miss that is from Srikanth! The backhand kill was there but the shuttle touches the frame of his racket and lands on his side. Could have drawn level there. 

What an effort from Chico. First a massive dive towards the net on the backhand side and then a massive dive to the other corner diagonally but this time Srikanth finds the winner. 

Thomas Cup

Group Winners: CHN, JPN, INA, DEN
Runners-Up: KOR, TPE, IND, MAS

Teams from the same group cannot play each other in the quarter finals.#TUC2024

— Badminton Talk (@BadmintonTalk) May 1, 2024

This is a nice little fightback from Srikanth, good to see he is not taking this lightly (pointless match but definitely good for momentum). The Indian veteran draws level with two lovely winners to Chico's backhand side 

Like how Gill Clark likes to come up with fun facts here's one for you: Chico has a sibling who also plays badminton, Ester. And Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo is the third child, while Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo is the second child and hence the Tri and Dwi in their names. 

A run of SEVEN straight points as Srikanth's good start fizzled out. There is not much riding on it, but I imagine Srikanth would want to make sure he carries some confidence into the knockouts. 

Chico into the lead now on a run of points. 

Shivani Naik: This fifth match seems superfluous, considering quarters tomorrow (or day after). But solely for tagline potential, Chico vs Chika (of Badminton) has a good ring to it. There's also the bonus of two timeless, elegant games if context doesn't matter.

If the match had come down to this, we could have had a really thrilling climax. (That's perhaps what SatChi and Lakshya are thinking too). As it is, this is a first meeting between world No 25 Srikanth and world No 29 Chico. 

Shivani Naik's choice for India's quarterfinal opponents: 1.? ?Japan 2.? ?Denmark 3.? ?China.

What would be yours? 

Match and tie sealed by Indonesia: There it is, the top spot confirmed for Indonesia in Group C. But Indian fans, looking for some positives, the team finished 2nd in the group in Bangkok too. So all is not lost. Let's wait and see who they draw now. 

Match (and tie) points galore for the Indonesians. 

'Possible we could see this matchup again on Saturday or even Sunday': Gill Clark Wouldn't that be brilliant? It's been a really fun tie once again between India and Indonesia.

That first game... the Indians needed that. To put some scoreboard pressure on the Indonesians. Now it feels all too easy for them. Indonesia have all but clinched this. The Srikanth match is set to be academic. 

And perhaps as expected, the gap is beginning to grow. The Indonesians in control now. Top spot in their grabs. 

Shivani Naik: How many Indian badminton diehards, team tie tragics are beginning to get the queasy, ghost-seeing feeling already that starts with K and ends with H? Hopefully Dhruv-Pratheek can take this to 2-2. But even otherwise, the leadup to a Kidambi Srikanth match, the first beads of dread-sweat must have begun to form. The stylish player does full justice to the reverse idiom: "There's breakdown in beauty"

Our advice: Breathe.

Sai Pratheek with a good put away at the net but the points are not coming easy for the Indians anymore and there is separation starting to form. 

Shivani Naik: They might have lost today, but Satwik-Chirag's end points beast mentality puts them at a different level than the second pair. Experience matters, and like the women's team, Sai Pratheek will learn from those last two points of composure and sharp strokes under pressure

If it was a case of perhaps getting used to the new Indian combination, maybe Marthin and Carnando will start pushing ahead now. But the Indians keeping it even in the early stages of. Game 2.

Game 1, INA: Carnando with a great serve for their game point. And the error comes from the Indians as Indonesians take the lead. Close but no cigar for the Indian duo.  

It's the Indians who have the first game point, good serve from Dhruv. But soon enough it's level again EXtra points needed. 

Carnando with a super winner at the net, picking the shuttle from top of the tape. They lead now but an error and now we are back level. 

Mathias Boe points to the forehead once more... the Indians sneak ahead again. 

Oh some confusion in the Indian positioning there, problem with being a non-regular pair.

The Indians are inching ahead, but the Indonesians keep pulling it back. Question of nerves from here on. 

Staying in touch. Most doubles games get decided from this point onwards. There is some needle going on in this. Daniel told not to delay. 

If you, like me, thought it was a bridge too far for this scratch Indian doubles combination, then so far we will both be wrong. Solid fight from the Indians.