Thomas Cup: Indian men's team reaches quarterfinals after defeating England

Defending champion India defeated England 5-0 in the Group C match and entered the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup badminton tournament in Chengdu, China on Monday. 

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Earlier, India had defeated Thailand 4-1 in the first match of the Thomas Cup 2024. India will face 14-time champion Indonesia in the last group match. 

HS Prannoy returned to the winning path and gave India the 1-0 lead by defeating Harry Huang 21-15, 21-15 in a straight match despite losing to Kunlavut Vitidsarn in India's first tie against Thailand.

Sat-Chi showed their class against Lane and Vendy

In the second match, The world No.1 doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty once again had to work hard, which was the toughest phase of the match against Bane Lane and Sean Vendy. But Satwik-Chirag won the match 21-17, 19-21, 21-15 and took India ahead 2-0.

Though Satwik-Chirag won an intense first game 21-17, world no. 19 Lane and Vendy maintained a two-point lead over the Indian duo throughout the second game and eventually claimed the game 19-21.

However, in the third game, Satwik-Chirag ramped up their game to earn a quick lead. Although both pairings were engaged in a neck-to-neck battle until the interval, the Indian combo broke away to a massive lead before sealing the match with a 21-15 win in the decider.

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Srikanth gave India a 3-0 lead

Then, in the absence of Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth performed brilliantly to ensure an equalizer for India in straight games. The former world number one gave India a 3-0 lead by defeating Nadem Dalvi 21-16, 21-11. 

M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila defeated Rory Eatson and Alex Green 21-17, 21-19 in the second doubles match to make the score 4-0.

In the last match, Kiran George defeated Cholan Kiyan 21-18, 21-12.

On the other hand, Indonesia also defeated Thailand in the other Thome Cup pre-quarterfinal match. India and Indonesia qualified for the knockout from Group C. The group toppers will be decided by their match on Wednesday.