The final push

Bangkok, May 14

Brimming with confidence, India will again look to punch above their weight when they run into 14-time winners Indonesia in the final of the Thomas Cup here tomorrow, seeking to create history one more time.

Given their formidable record, defending champions Indonesia have been the team to beat, but India have proven their mettle by beating Malaysia and Denmark to make their first-ever final.

It was a historic moment for the unheralded Indian team when they beat Denmark on Friday. Despite the odds, the men never lacked in self- belief and displayed tremendous mental fortitude to recover twice from the initial reversals to come out on top.

While Indonesia have been relentless with an unbeaten record, India have lost just one match — against Chinese Taipei in the group stage — so far in the competition.

If Indonesia knocked out China and Japan, India went past five-time former champions Malaysia and the 2016 winners Denmark.

Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy have shouldered the responsibility with an invincible record of five wins, while the country’s top doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty put their hands up whenever the chips were down.

The young combination of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala have proved to be a weak link but they gave a good account of themselves during their losses against Malaysia and Denmark.

However, the Indian think-tank is likely to bring back MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila as the second doubles pair for the final. “The playing conditions are very different here, there is a lot of drift. So, players who adjust well will have a better chance of getting success. That is the key,” former India coach Vimal Kumar, who is with the team, said. — PTI

Uber Cup: S Korea end 12-year drought

Bangkok: South Korea ended their 12-year wait for an Uber Cup title with a 3-2 upset of defending champions China that was only decided in the last singles match of the final today.

With the scores locked at 2-2, world No. 46 Sim Yu-jin stunned China’s 15th-ranked Wang Zhiyi 28-26 18-21 21-8 in an 88-minute battle to clinch South Korea’s second crown. China were looking for their 16th title in the biennial women’s team competition, while South Korea’s last triumph came in 2010 in Malaysia. Reuters

Mentally, there were a lot of things going on today. After the slip, it hurt a lot more than usual, I was not able to lunge properly. I was wondering what to do, thought I will try to manage somehow. In the mind it was always that: ‘I should not give up.’Just tried whatever I could, praying the pain doesn’t aggravate HS Prannoy after taking India to a 3-2 win over Denmark