France is on a roll in the Thomas Cup. After knocking out 14-time champions Indonesia in the group stage, France won all three singles to beat 2022 champions India 3-0.Christo Popov beat Ayush Shetty 21-11, 21-9 to give France an early lead. Alex Lanier also picked up a straight game win. Kidambi Srikanth 21-18, 21-16 for France in a do-or-die contest, 2-0 for India. HS Prannoy Touma Jr. started well before losing steam against Popov and lost 19-21, 16-21.In the second semi-final, China won their first two matches against Denmark.Popov was at his best against Ayush throughout the 39-minute contest. The reigning World Tour Finals champion dominated the net and hit Ayush’s backhand corner with repeated smashes and controlled the tempo of the game.Ayush, who turns 21 on Sunday, admitted that Christo was great. “I am disappointed with my performance today. Christo was solid today…his pace was fast and he put a lot of pressure on me,” Ayush said. “He was cheating a lot. He held me safe. I was not stable on the court..it left me behind today,” Ayush added.India suffered a setback long before the tournament began as Lakshya Sen was ruled out of the semi-finals due to a swollen right elbow, which he injured while diving in the three-game quarter-final on Friday.“Laksha sustained an impact to his elbow after an intense quarter-final match that involved multiple dives. After a thorough evaluation by the team’s medical staff, the decision has been taken as a precautionary measure to give Laksha adequate time to recover and ensure that he is in top form for the finals if progress is made,” BAI general secretary Sanja said in a statement from India.Korea will face China in the Uber final.Meanwhile, South Korea will face China in the final of the Uber Cup. In the semi-finals, South Korea defeated Indonesia 3-1 and China defeated Japan 3-0.
