New Delhi: India crashed out of the league stage with a loss despite having already qualified for the quarter-finals, losing 2-3 to China in their final Group A tie of the Thomas Cup Finals on Wednesday.The 2022 champion found himself under pressure early on Lakshya Sen And the star doubles the duo. Satok Sairaj Rankireddy And Chirag Shetty lost their respective matches, giving China a 2-0 lead.Lakshya, who has impressed in recent tournaments, lost to Li Shifeng 19-21, 21-8, 12-21 in the opening singles.The doubles pair of Satuk and Chirag battled valiantly, saving five match points, but eventually lost to Liang Wei Kang and Wang Chang in a thriller 13-21, 21-13, 24-26.Aayush, Prannoy are spearheading a return to the fray.With the tie on the line, young Ayush Shetty stepped up in style. After losing the first game, he made a strong comeback to defeat Wang Hongyang 17-21, 21-13, 21-15.Ayush expressed confidence in India’s title chances, saying, “I really enjoyed it… it’s my first Thomas Cup. The goal was to win… happy to get a point for the team.”However, India’s hopes suffered in the second doubles, where Hariharan Amsakaronen and MR Arjun lost 17–21, 13–21 to He Jie Ting and Ren Xiangyu, and the tie ended 3–1 for China.In the final match, HS Prannoy produced a resilient performance, coming from a game down to beat Lu Guangzhou 20-22, 21-19, 21-11, narrowing the margin of defeat.“The spirits are really high… we believe we can go all the way,” he said, highlighting the team’s confidence ahead of the knockouts.The focus shifted to the quarterfinals.Despite the loss, India finished second in Group A and advanced to the quarterfinals, where they are likely to face 2014 champions Japan.While the defeat exposed areas for improvement, India’s fighting spirit – displayed by Ayush and Prannoy – offers hope that they are ready for the business end of the tournament.
