Picture Credit: Twitter
India has started its Thomas and Uber Cup campaign on a high as they whitewashed Germany 5-0 on the first day of the tournament. Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, and MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila won their respective matches to give India an outstanding start to the tournament. While Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy completed easy wins over their German counterparts, Kidambi Srikanth had to sweat it out to go past Kai Schaefer.
World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen started the proceeding for India with an easy 21-16 21-13 win over world no 64 Max Weisskirchen. The Indian shuttler beat the German in 36 minutes to give India a 1-0 lead.
The second win on the day was brought by the Men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. However, they had to overcome a stiff challenge from the German pair of Jones Ralfy Jansen and Marvin Seidel. Nonetheless, the Indians beat the Germans by 21-15, 10-21, 21-13 in 57 minutes.
After that, it was Kidmabi Srikanth's turn to notch up a victory over Kai Schaefer. The World No 11 eked out an 18-21 21-9 21-11 win over Schafer after a sluggish start to give India an unassailable 3-0 lead in the Group C tie. The Men's doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila continued India's dominance as they handed Bjarne Geiss and Jan Colin Voelker a 25-23 21-15 defeat in 42 minutes.
Then the onus was on HS Prannoy to bring a clean sweep as he faced Matthias Kicklitz in the last game of the day for India. The World No 23 did not disappoint as he hardly broke a sweat and completed a 5-0 whitewash of Germany, with a 21-9 21-9 win over Kicklitz.
Overall, it was a perfect start for the Indian contingent as they prepare to bring the first medal for the country in the tournament. Notably, no Indian men's team has ever reached the semifinals of the Thomas Cup. Last year, the men's team had signed off its campaign at the quarterfinal stage.
Later in the day, the Women's team will take centerstage against Canada.