When India won the Thomas Cup in 2022, it became only the sixth country to win the team badminton competition. It was also India’s first-ever medal in the biennial tournament. After failing to win a medal in 2024, India brought home a bronze medal this year following an impressive 3-0 win over Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals in Horsens, Denmark. Lakshya Sen, ranked No. 11 in the world, and Ayush Shetty, No. 18, each beat higher ranked players to propel India to victory.
Unfortunately, Sen injured his elbow in the match and was unable to play against France in the semifinals. His teammates—Shetty, Kidambi Srikanth, and HS Prannoy—had to move up one level in singles. They lost all their matches. “I think Lakshya kind of not being there in the semifinals definitely made the biggest difference for us out there,” Prannoy said.
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge. [Comments? Contributions? Please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]