Manish Kumar Joshi
On India winning the Thomas Cup, a sports expert commented that this golden moment should be captured by India. Should be imprisoned as well because this moment is exactly the same as India won the World Cup by defeating West Indies in the eighties cricket. This is the biggest moment in Indian shuttle history after Prakash Padukone won the All India Badminton in the seventies. This should be the starting point of the path of victory. Badminton was ruled by women until the victory of the Thomas Cup. Indian women have been making a name for themselves in badminton for a few years now.
The names of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and G Jwala come as soon as the name of Indian badminton comes. These women have brought laurels to India in recent years on their own and have made Indian badminton their synonym. He has done remarkable performance not only individually but as a team. These women have won bronze medals for India in the Uber Cup in 2014 and 2016.
A major victory awaited the Indian men. Apart from Kidambi Srikanth, no shuttler was able to achieve any major victory. In the Thomas Cup, these men rocked the heels and beat 14-time champions Indonesia to not only name the nation the biggest moment in Indian shuttle history but also made their presence felt among Indian shuttlers. The emptiness that had existed among the male shuttlers amid the women’s success was filled with this victory.
The victories of Indian male shuttlers are unbelievable as they have achieved the victory for which India had to wait 73 years. No one was expecting this win because Indonesia is a 14-time champion. Indian players are ranked below Indonesian players. This victory is also important because the contenders for this victory were other giant countries other than India. China Taipei, Malaysia and Denmark were among the strong contenders. China Taipei, Malaysia and Denmark were also in India’s winning journey.
Denmark was the biggest contender this time. The position of India’s team among all these teams was the same as that of the Indian cricket team in the 1983 World Cup cricket. It was important for India to defeat Denmark. The Danish team had players ranked No. 1, No. 3 and No. 13 in the world. So the team was very strong. Against this strong team, India won 3-2 in a tough fight.
Indonesia was the strongest contender who defeated teams like Japan, China, Korea. In the very first match, Lakshya surprised everyone by defeating the world number five player and bronze medalist in Tokyo Olympics. In the second match, after losing the first game, Swastik and Chirag won both the games and decided the title for India. In the final singles match, Srikanth created history for India by defeating Jonathan Christie in straight games.
Indian shuttlers did not know what they had achieved. He won the hearts of crores of Indians by giving India the title for the first time in the Thomas Cup being played since 1949. When the whole of India was lost in the IPL of cricket, this news turned Indians from the cricket ball to the shuttle. People started searching for the Thomas Cup and India’s victory on social media.
This is India’s first major win in the shuttle world after Prakash Padukone won the All England Badminton. The canvas of this victory is big. This victory has to be capitalized. This victory has to be taken to the whole country. People have to be told how big this victory is. There are many people in this country who do not know what is the Thomas Cup and what is its importance. Not many people would know the difference between a Thomas Cup and an Uber Cup.
It becomes the responsibility of the Indian badminton administrators to take this victory to the whole country and tell the youth how big a victory it is. Give new targets to more trainers like Gopichand. A roadmap should be set by this victory. Along with women, men should also be expected to medal in the coming Olympics. The lead that the Indians have got over Denmark and Indonesia should be retained in the upcoming tournaments. This victory is big and this victory needs to be made bigger.