That will be all for this live blog. A historic day for Indian badminton. Join us on Friday, 430 pm IST for semifinal action where India will take on Denmark. Unleash all the SENs.
Thomas Cup quarterfinals, India 3-2 Malaysia: Lakshya Sen was involved in an opening game against Lee Zii Jia, but the Malaysian superstar dominated in the second to win in straight games. Satwik-Chirag were then up against Goh/Izzuddin in a crucial doubles tie and they were charged up right through to win in two games. A hugely important win. Srikanth then dominated his singles match to put India one win away from assuring a medal. It all came down to HS Prannoy in the final singles tie after Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan were beaten by Chia/Teo. And the man from Kerala did it for India, with an assured win to assure India a medal.
SEMIFINAL: India will face Denmark.
SF: India vs Denmark it is! Korea had match points in the fourth match of this tie to enter the semifinals, but Denmark turn it around from there with a doubles win & then Rasmus Gemke takes the fifth match in straight games!
HS Prannoy: “No negative thoughts in the team, it’s all just positive energy in the group. You can see it on the court, everybody just wants to win it for each other. That’s been very nice to see”
DENMARK vs KOREA: Lee led 18-14 in the opening game. But it is Gemke who takes the lead!
DENMARK vs KOREA: ...and if we thought this was going to be straightforward.
Stunning turnaround by Denmark, if this goes into the final tie, they will be huge favourites.
The Danes save match points (tie points!) to stay alive in this one:
Incredible stuff on Court 2:
Thomas Cup quarterfinals, India 3-2 Malaysia: I know he didn’t *win* today, but don’t underestimate the importance of India’s having Lakshya Sen leading this side as the top-ranked player. Only because of his well-earned spot there, India had the quality of Srikanth and Prannoy as MS2 & MS3. This squad had a lovely depth. And the cushion of having Satwik-Chirag as MD1 to be followed by one of two other good pairs... it just gives a great sense of confidence.
Indian fans, this is where you need to switch now. The match to decide India’s opponents:
INDIA SECURE THEIR FIRST THOMAS CUP MEDAL! HS Prannoy wins 21-13, 21-8! A historic moment in Indian badminton. They beat Malaysia 3-2 in a thrilling tie.
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 21-13, 20-7 Leong Jun Hao: 13 historic match points for India!
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 21-13, 19-7 Leong Jun Hao: A formality now! Leong gets the serve back with a nice spinning shot at the net. HSP sends one long. But the gap is too big.
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 21-13, 16-5 Leong Jun Hao: It’s all Prannoy at the moment! It’s all India chants at the moment.
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 21-13, 11-5 Leong Jun Hao: Prannoy goes into the interval with a big roar and more importantly, a big lead.
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 21-13, 8-4 Leong Jun Hao: More controversy. Prannoy thinks he won a tight net exchange. But the point is given to Leong after consultation with service judge. Scores corrected to 6-4 from 7-3, HSP not happy. To be fair though, the right call was made there. Prannoy needs to refocus again, win s the next couple of points with solid winners.
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 21-13 Leong Jun Hao: HS Prannoy wins the first game, perhaps the enormous sense of occasion playing a part. He was down 2-7 initially but kept raising his level thereafter. India are just one game away from a historic medal.
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 19-13 Leong Jun Hao: What were BWF thinking putting a knockout match on Court 3. Another umpiring controversy, this time Prannoy gets his way with an overrule from chair. Leong is upset.
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 15-12 Leong Jun Hao: The momentum at the break was with Prannoy and he is carried into the lead. Chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ dominating now at the arena. HSP pumped up after pretty much every point here.
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 10-11 Leong Jun Hao: First Prannoy is starting to celebrate but the linesperson spreads his arms... from 10-10, the shuttle deemed to be long and it is the Malaysian who has the lead at the interval. All very tight now though.
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 9-9 Leong Jun Hao: Prannoy is incensed at a shuttle long being called long and there are no reviews. But that fires him up and soon enough we are all level.
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 5-7 Leong Jun Hao: Injection of pace by Prannoy... couple of big roars too let his opponent he is here and to quieten the crowd a bit. Then comes another nice long rally and it goes Prannoy’s way after a lovely precise lift. You can feel the tension in this one!
IND 2-2 MAS, HS Prannoy 2-6 Leong Jun Hao: WELL, WELL. The first 5 points of this match could have been put down to just warming up, but then comes a REALLY GOOD long long rally, that goes Leong’s way with a terrific drop shot. Malaysian crowd in full voice. What an atmosphere. The youngster gives the serve back with a height fault.
IND 2-2 MAS: TIME FOR THE BIG ONE! HS Prannoy or Leong Jun Hao can be a hero for their team tonight. On paper, rankings are vast apart but Leong has won the only meeting in 2020. But this is a team event with so much riding on it. All about pressure!
Indonesia’s singles stars come alive in the big game. Ginting and Christie (along with a Minion-Daddy crossover ) take the defending champions into the semifinals.
IND 2-2 MAS, Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan 19-21, 17-21 Chia/Teo: Chia-Teo and we’re going to have a decider in this quarterfinal tie! The Indians fought well but lacked enough firepower at the end.
IND 2-1 MAS, Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan 19-21, 16-17 Chia/Teo: It seemed the Malaysians were running away with the match but the Indians have fought back again. Can they push further ahead and force a decider?
IND 2-1 MAS, Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan 19-21, 13-14 Chia/Teo: The Indians are doing well to remain on the offensive and they reduce the deficit to just one point.
IND 2-1 MAS, Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan 19-21, 8-11 Chia/Teo: It was 5-5 at one stage but the Malaysians have pulled ahead to take a healthy lead at the interval. The Indians continuing to make simple errors.
IND 2-1 MAS, Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan 19-21, 4-5 Chia/Teo: It continues to be a close battle but the Malaysians have their nose just ahead. The Indians will need to cut down the errors.
IND 2-1 MAS, Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan 19-21 Chia/Teo: Chia-Teo clinch the first game! Three costly service return errors by the Indians towards the end there. This has been a tense battle.
IND 2-1 MAS, Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan 17-16 Chia/Teo: Back-to-back service return errors by the Indians to let Malaysia draw level but they win the next point to take the lead again.
IND 2-1 MAS, Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan 15-13 Chia/Teo: The Indians have clearly rattled their opponents and are playing with great intensity. Can they close out the first game?
IND 2-1 MAS, Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan 13-11 Chia/Teo: Another brilliant run for form for the Indians as they win four points in a row to lead for the first time in the match. Game on!
IND 2-1 MAS, Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan 6-11 Chia/Teo: Chia-Teo led 10-4 before the Indians won five points in a row but the Malaysians manage to take a 11-9 lead to the interval in the first game.
IND 2-1 MAS: Time for MD2. Don’t go by the rankings of the Malaysians for this one. Aaron Chia and Teo Ee Yi are part of two fantastic doubles pairs, just not the regular partners on tour. They will be favourites for this vs Krishna Prasad/Vishnuvardhan.
IND 2-1 MAS, Srikanth Kidambi 21-11, 21-17 Ng Tze Yong: Srikanth Kidambi beats NG Tze Yong 21-11, 21-17 and India take the lead in the tie! Superb performance by Srikanth to seal the deal in straight games. That’s two wins in a row for India
IND 1-1 MAS, Srikanth Kidambi 21-11, 20-17 Ng Tze Yong: Four match points for Srikanth, one saved.
IND 1-1 MAS, Srikanth Kidambi 21-11, 18-16 Ng Tze Yong: Both players are playing some neat stuff at the moment and importantly for Srikanth he tidied up his game just in time to make sure Ng’s momentum was arrested there. The Indian has his nose ahead.
IND 1-1 MAS, Srikanth Kidambi 21-11, 15-14 Ng Tze Yong: A quiet clenched fist from Srikanth as he ends the run of points at SIX after Ng caught up. That was the sort of construction of rallies that took him into a big lead. Just needs a reset here the Indian.
IND 1-1 MAS, Srikanth Kidambi 21-11, 14-13 Ng Tze Yong: FIVE points on the trot for Ng and all of a sudden this is a proper battle! Srikanth starting to miss the lines where he was so precide earlier.
IND 1-1 MAS, Srikanth Kidambi 21-11, 11-5 Ng Tze Yong: A very animated Malaysian coach but it is all zen from an Indian point of view. Srikanth takes a huge lead into the interval after a super straight smash to Ng’s forehand side.
IND 1-1 MAS, Srikanth Kidambi 21-11, 9-4 Ng Tze Yong: Srikanth Kidambi continuing to dictate play. Lovely blend of power, skill and precision in his game. The Indian leads 6-3 in the second game... and soon 9-4.
IND 1-1 MAS, Srikanth Kidambi 21-11 Ng Tze Yong: A lucky net chord for Srikanth to clinch the opening game but absolutely nothing lucky about the rest of his game so far in this tie. Dominating the sidelines with his smashes, drawing Ng forward with his touch play. Dominant.
IND 1-1 MAS, Srikanth Kidambi 15-6 Ng Tze Yong: That’s NINE points in a row now for Srikanth! He’s in complete control of the first game.
IND 1-1 MAS, Srikanth Kidambi 11-6 Ng Tze Yong: A quickfire start to this match. NTY caught up briefly at 6-6 but Srikanth pulled ahead with 5 straight points. No real long rallies in this one.
IND 1-1 MAS: Srikanth is off to a strong start, he leads 5-2 in the opener.
IND 1-1 MAS: Time now for Srikanth Kidambi’s clash with Ng Tze Yong. Opportunity for India to take the lead in the tie. the 21-year-old from Malaysia is a highly-rated player (you might have seen him pushing Lakshya Sen all the way at the Indian Open earlier this year) but Sri will start favourite in this one. He won their recent meeting in Manila last month in straight games.
IND 1-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 21-19, 21–15 Goh-Izzuddin: MATCH, SAT-CHI! India draw level in the tie as Satwik-Chirag beat Goh-Izzuddin 21-19, 21-15! A sensational point to finish the match with the Indians smashing a winner. Super-charged celebrations follow as Chirag roars and Satwik gestures ‘racket does the talking’. The team event, it does bring out the rawest of emotions out!
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 21-19, 2–15 Goh-Izzuddin: FIVE MATCH POINTS!
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 21-19, 19-15 Goh-Izzuddin: Need to stay just a little bit patient here, one feels! Both of them are just a bundle of energy at the moment and that translates to a rally they lose. But they get serve back after another sharp exchange that floors Izzuddin.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 21-19, 17-14 Goh-Izzuddin: SATCHI charged up! Four straight points.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 21-19, 16-14 Goh-Izzuddin: The Indians are bouncing around on the court after a brilliant exchange, just to impose themselves a little bit on this one! A crucial 2-point lead.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 21-19, 10-11 Goh-Izzuddin: 9-9, 10-10... and then a terrific 1-2 from Izzuddin and Goh to play the angles from either side and they take the smallest possible lead into the interval. The tension is palpable in this one.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 21-19, 7-9 Goh-Izzuddin: Goh with a drop shot when a smash seemed imminent. Terrific. Another sharp exchange with Goh at the heart of it.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 21-19, 5-6 Goh-Izzuddin: A stunning backhand winner from Goh. What an angle he found there under pressure. This is a superb run of points for the Malaysians, from 1-4 to 6-4. Chirag gets the serve back with a good backhand crosscourt of his own.
Elsewhere, Axelsen and Ginting have given their sides a huge 1-0 lead in their ties after three-game epics.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 21-19, 2-1 Goh-Izzuddin: Here’s a look at how that superb game 1 unfolded. Look how close it was in the backend.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 21-19 Goh-Izzuddin: GAME 1, SAT-CHI! Satwik-Chirag win the first game. The Indians kept up the pressure and drew errors from Goh-Izzuddin when they needed it most.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 19-19 Goh-Izzuddin: What a time for a lucky net chord! Chirag roaring, Satwik apologising to their opponents. All happening! (The Indians been on the other side, so they know how big that can be). The Malaysians level it immediately again.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 17-17 Goh-Izzuddin: Some ridiculous defending by the Malaysians in a rally that the Indians manage to close out after a few attempts. A 2-point lead for Sat-Chi but Goh closes the gap with Sukamuljo-esqye alertness at the net. And then brute of a smash by Izzuddin to clinch a longish rally. What a battle!
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 14-14 Goh-Izzuddin: Terrific -phase for the Malaysians now. Izzuddin taking charge.
Former India doubles player Shlok weighs in
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 11-9 Goh-Izzuddin: Satwik-Chirag have a slender lead at the interval! Goh-Izzuddin had a two-point lead but the Indians won four straight points to turn things around.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 10-8 Goh/Izzuddin: Malaysians started the match better but much better from Satwik-Chirag! They win three points in a row and lead 9-8 in the opener. Make that a 2-point lead now.
IND 0-1 MAS, Satwik-Chirag 5-6 Goh/Izzuddin: Expectedly a super fast start to this MD match. Lightning exchanges already.
IND 0-1 MAS: Time for the first men’s doubles, and this one is huge. If India have any hopes of winning this tie, they need a win here. For Malaysia, they have made a gamble in sticking to Goh/Izzuddin as MD1 by splitting their other higher-ranked pairs. Especially when Chia/Soh have the perfect H2H against Satwik-Chirag.
IND 0-1 MAS, Lakshya Sen 21-23, 9-21 Lee Zii Jia: Match, LZJ! The Malaysian went on a roll in the second game and Lakshya had no answers. The match ends on an error from the Indian, as he sends a smash into the net.
IND 0-0 MAS, Lakshya Sen 21-23, 8-20 Lee Zii Jia: Oh boy, there’s Lakshya losing his footing there rather dangerously. Hasn’t happened as much today as yesterday. But so dangerous. 12 match points for the Malaysian now.
IND 0-0 MAS, Lakshya Sen 21-23, 7-18 Lee Zii Jia: Ridiculous. LZJ is getting the shuttle to obey his mind at the moment. Lakshya’s radar is off too and in combination, a huge lead.
IND 0-0 MAS, Lakshya Sen 21-23, 7-13 Lee Zii Jia: Feels like this might be over soon... Lakshya starting to look at bit frustrated. Just as we say that LZJ has hit a couple of smashes into the middle of the net. He can go on a bit of a walkabout too sometimes... the Indian needs to at least try and stay in this.
IND 0-0 MAS, Lakshya Sen 21-23, 5-11 Lee Zii Jia: Better from the Indian, 4-8 and now 5-10. Long way back but not impossible. LZJ goes into the interval with another terrific high tempo point. (On the background, Axelsen can be seen. He is losing his match against Korea’s Heo Kwang Hee!)
IND 0-0 MAS, Lakshya Sen 21-23, 1-7 Lee Zii Jia: LZJ was 11-0 in the second game against Momota yesterday... now he is 7-1 here. Just a different beast when he is in the zone.
IND 0-0 MAS, Lakshya Sen 21-23, 0-5 Lee Zii Jia: The quality in that opening game from both the players... phenomenal. But it is often so hard to come back from dropping a game like that... Lakshya needs to recover quickly. Already 0-5 down at the start of the 2nd game. Couple of fantastic winners from the Malaysian by changing the rackethead direction at the last minute.
IND 0-0 MAS, Lakshya Sen 21-23 Lee Zii Jia: Game 1, LZJ! A BREATHTAKING OPENING GAME! Lakshya Sen had two game points, then LZJ had one before converting his second after a series of lovely exchanges. The winning point of the game was a delightful crosscourt push to the backcourt by the Malaysian. He is in the zone.
Thomas Cup QF, IND vs MAS, Lakshya Sen 21-21 Lee Zii Jia: great defence from Lakshya but LZJ saves another game point. And now has one of his own with that smash of his.... which is saved by a super crosscourt winner from the India. Stunning!
Thomas Cup QF, IND vs MAS, Lakshya Sen 19-20 Lee Zii Jia: Couple of game points for Lakshya but one saved with a brutal smash at the net. And perhaps a stare to go with it too.
Confirmation, no reviews on court 3: It’s a shame that a knockout match of a top tier event has to be placed on a court without tech assistance. No reviews on Court 3. Can understand maybe group stages but sigh... hope it doesn’t prove costly for anyone. Lee wanted to challenge one and he trails 17-19.
Thomas Cup QF, IND vs MAS, Lakshya Sen 17-17 Lee Zii Jia: A lift goes long and the Indian is in the lead.... just for a minute at 17. He sends a lift well wide. Back level.
Thomas Cup QF, IND vs MAS, Lakshya Sen 16-16 Lee Zii Jia: Couple of errors from LZJ and we are back level! Lakshya doing well but not giving too much height to work with.
Thomas Cup QF, IND vs MAS, Lakshya Sen 14-15 Lee Zii Jia: At the moment it feels like Lakshya has to win every point 4-5 times in order to win it once. He’s throwing it all at LZJ and it is coming back. But the Indian keeps fighting back.
Thomas Cup QF, IND vs MAS, Lakshya Sen 12-12 Lee Zii Jia: Two absolutely stunning defensive saves from Lakshya in the space of a few seconds. LZH wins the point though. The Indian pounces on the next point at the net. What a battle.
Thomas Cup QF, IND vs MAS, Lakshya Sen 10-11 Lee Zii Jia: Another lovely rally to decide who has the lead at the interval. Lakshya does well enough on defence but it wasn’t quite enough. LZJ has his nose ahead.
Also, not sure if there are reviews in this match because we haven’t had rthe tech in place on court 3 before today. Need to see about that.
Thomas Cup QF, IND vs MAS, Lakshya Sen 7-8 Lee Zii Jia: What a start to this match from both players. Almost as if these are among the two best players in the game right now in 2022. Some fantastic rallies already! Lakshya’s turn to win a long one. (Will be nice to see the stats here for average rally length... one thing that badminton needs to improve in its coverage)
Thomas Cup QF, IND vs MAS, Lakshya Sen 5-6 Lee Zii Jia: What a fantastic rally at 5-3. LZJ’s does brilliantly with a jumping backhand clear to stay in the point and after a patient exchange, forces an error from Lakshya. Also, early signs, but good to see both players moving around the court well. There have been a lot of footing issues. Lakshya closes the gap to one.
Thomas Cup QF, IND vs MAS, Lakshya Sen 1-3 Lee Zii Jia: Here we go then. LZJ comes into this one on the back of a dominant win vs Momota that helped Malaysia clinch the top spot in their group. He has been in terrific form recently, also clinching the Asian Championship title in Manilla earlier. Lakshya needs to be at his very best.
Thomas Cup quarterfinals: India vs Malaysia, Lakshya Sen vs Lee Zii Jia: Technically, it is the third meeting between the two but the first came way back in 2016. Not really worth reading too much in that. Lakshya does have a 2-0 lead H2H but the most recent win in All England is the one the Indian will need to fall back on and take inspiration from.
05.30 pm: Even as the Japan vs TPE tie was unfolding a little while back, you could hear the “How’s the Josh!” chants from the Indian team in the background. We are all set for the start now.
05.25 pm: Hello and welcome to live updates from quarterfinals day at the 2022 Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Bangkok.
After the Indian women’s team lost against hosts Thailand in the quarterfinals of Uber Cup earlier, the men will try and go one step further as they take on a strong Malaysia side led by Lee Zii Jia.
The Indian men’s team has never finished on the podium in Thomas Cup before but Lakshya Sen, Srikanth Kidambi and Co have a decent chance of changing that this time around.
Here’s a look at the lineup of matches.
Screenshots in the blog courtesy Tournament Software / Viacom 18