How Indian Badminton Was Transformed

Avi Taneja

June 03, 2022 (Last Modified June 16, 2022)

No one expected India to beat them 3-0, let alone win at all. India triumphed over Indonesia, fourteen-time champion, with a 3-0 victory at the world Thomas Cup. Considering this is the first time India has ever qualified for the finals, the badminton world was shocked. Things were looking bleak for the Indians, as their starter, Sen Lakshya, lost the first game of the match 21-7. Indonesians were cheering louder than what was thought possible, Indians were on the edge of their seats trying to coach their teammate. Lakshya had food poisoning on the flight, therefore causing him to play at a slightly lower level of skill, rather than his normal. 

Going into the second game, Lakshya had taken a different approach, facing world rank number five, Anthony Ginting. Ginting’s smashing the bird was something not to be reckoned with, Lakshya having experienced this. Knowing such a valuable piece of information, Lakshya started changing strategies. Gradually, he started to win more and more points until he won the second game twenty-one to sixteen. Knowing he would have to keep an incredible pace up, he headed into the third game. Keeping his cool, slowly he won more and more points. Things were not looking good for him, at the change of sides he was down eleven to seven. Pushing harder than he ever had before, Lakshya won the third game twenty one to seventeen showing the Indonesians they were going to need to put in more work than they were. 

The Indians were not going to give up that easily. Then, the second match of the finals started. If India could get a two to zero lead there was an enormous chance they could seize victory from the Indonesians. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were up next, facing Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamujlo. Both very formidable teams, with an enormous skill. The Indonesian team lacked synergy, only playing together only for the tournament, however the Indian team had been playing together for seven years. Indonesia had taken two of their best players and put them together quite recently, not having the synergy in which the Indian team had. This was vital to India. India lost the first set narrowly, twenty-one to eighteen with both sides playing with unimaginable skill. India was determined, after years of waiting however and managed to clutch up the second game twenty-three to twenty-one. At the moment, the game could go any way. Point after point, and the Indian team won the third game twenty-one to nineteen sealing the match.

The Indian National Team was overjoyed, yet still knew there was work to be done. Indonesians had a lot of pressure on their shoulders, and hoped their next player, Jonathan Christie could put a point up on the board. Srikanth Kidambi, India’s captain, was up. Kidami had beat Christie last time they played twenty-one to sixteen both games. All the pressure was on these two. First game, won by Kidambi twenty-one to fifteen, leaving India one game away from writing history. Second game was won by Kidmai, twenty-three to twenty-one, India writing history, and the first time ever they had won this cup. The victory might even be more influential than the 1983 cricket win by India, perhaps changing how badminton might be played. Forever.