Thomas Cup win: Short-term euphoria, long-term impact

Kidambi Srikanth (above), Lakshya Sen, and doubles players Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty recently brought home India’s first-ever Thomas Cup. Ahead of the tournament, some of the players formed a WhatsApp group titled “It’s Coming Home”, a phrase borrowed from English football used during their World Cup campaigns.

It’s been nearly two months since the Indian men’s badminton team won the Thomas Cup—for the first time in its 73-year history. They had reached the semi-finals only thrice before.

In the world of competitive sport, including badminton, there is little time to savour or rue a victory or a loss. There are always upcoming competitions to focus on—following the Thomas Cup final on May 15, there has been the Thailand Open, Indonesia Masters, Indonesia Open and Malaysia Open. Next is the Singapore Open that starts July 12.

While the euphoria of the Thomas Cup win may not linger for long, it would have a legacy that will last a while—at least for the badminton fraternity. If the Indian team had returned from Thailand without a medal, the loss would have been barely noticed, except for the few newspaper reports. The players would have returned to their daily lives, got around to their business of relentless practices and trainings and just turned their attention at the next event.

But they did win, unexpectedly, beating some of the top badminton nations of the world, culminating with a 3-0 comprehensive domination over 14-time champions Indonesia in the final. When the Indians lost to Chinese Taipei 2-3 earlier in their group match, it seemed all but over, one of those situations that seems impossible to come back from. But wins over Malaysia and Denmark with identical 3-2 margins, led them into the final.

What worked for this team, unlike any before, is a serendipitous combination of factors. For one, the players believed even before heading into the event that they were in with a real chance. Some of the players in Hyderabad, who train at the Pullela Gopichand Academy, had an informal meeting once the team was selected to sort-of break the ice. A WhatsApp group was formed, titled “It’s Coming Home”, a phrase borrowed from English football used during their World Cup campaigns.

Also read: Pullela Gopichand: The match is like a thriller; the real movie is actually the preparation

The junior players instantly accepted the seniors, 29-year-olds Kidambi Srikanth, a former world No. 1, and H.S. Prannoy, the captain and vice-captain of the team, as their unquestioned leaders. The two men led by example, winning their crucial singles matches against Denmark and Malaysia despite Prannoy battling injuries.

His win over Lu Chia Hung of Chinese Taipei—even though India lost the tie—in three games, riding on pain killers, was a display of bravery and never-give-up attitude that worked as a morale booster, helping the team overall to recover from the loss.

The two seniors had their own points to prove, that they were better than what their rankings suggested. Srikanth, currently No. 11, is ranked below 10th-ranked Lakshya Sen, who is India’s top ranked player. Prannoy is down at 19, just one rank above B. Sai Praneeth. Srikanth and Prannoy were not just playing to win, they were playing for pride. Sen had to justify his top ranking while doubles players Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had to show they could deliver when it most mattered, a criticism they have faced often.

There was a special bond between players, getting along like a house on fire. Singles players Srikanth, Prannoy, Sen and the baby of the squad Priyanshu Rajawat gelling with the doubles combinations of Rankireddy, Shetty, M.R. Arjun, Dhruv Kapila, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala. The camaraderie showed when the team pushed Rajawat to collect the trophy first, ahead of the captain.

During the tournament, the players formed a raucous group, playing loud music, dancing with joy, screaming aloud their victories and not hiding their emotions. Ahead of the final, they borrowed the Danish team’s drums, the team they had just defeated, to make some noise in the final. The Indian diaspora in the country was galvanised to attend, through social media, so they could cheer the team. 

Each player performed an additional role that gave the team a further boost. Rajawat cheered the most, besides being the team’s best dancer; Shetty made Instagram Reels and was their social media guy; Prannoy brought his aggression, his josh; while Rankireddy and Kapila cracked the best jokes.

Some like to call this the face of new India, unafraid to show emotions, able to celebrate vociferously and wear their Indianness on their sleeves. It’s a contrast to the gentlemanly champions of the past, Prakash Padukone in the 1970s-80s and P. Gopichand in the early 2000s. 

One of the reasons is how the sport itself has grown in the country, through the efforts of various academies, the sports federation and the government. Top players compete through the year, starting from junior levels through to the seniors. They are not intimidated by competitors from other countries, they are used to the rigours of travels, they have the cushion of sponsorships and financial support. They see themselves as equals, driven also by the success of others like Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu, P. Kashyap and Srikanth.

The euphoria of that success, two months ago, is beginning to wear off, because this is the world of sport where you are only as good as your last win. The WhatsApp group has been renamed “World Championshipssss”, aiming for the next big thing. Sen got the bronze medal last year while Srikanth was the losing finalist.

Since the Thomas Cup, Srikanth lost in the early rounds of the Indonesia and Thailand Open; Prannoy finished third in Jakarta—that included a win over Sen—but lost in the quarterfinals of Malaysia Open. The players move on, hunting for their next success in an individual sport that included a slight detour when they had set aside a week in May to come together and fight like a unit, for a single cause.

Some of the players had not even heard of the Thomas Cup while growing up, a team event that gets sidelined by bigger prizes at the Olympics, World Championships and the All England. But their title-winning run will have longer legs, inspiring several young badminton players, for several years. India’s growth in cricket is often credited to the 1983 World Cup win; badminton needs a few more to get there.