A great Triumph, but not a surprise
Celebration goes beyond just a reflection of the enormity of the achievement. It has the power to unite and bind us together in one common thread of emotion. A dance, a yell and the sound of dhols, as heard during the Thomas Cup final on Sunday, had that power. The entire men’s badminton team danced and jived and then rushed after Kidambi Srikanth meticulously steered India towards unknown territory—the Thomas Cup title—and celebrated. In terms of enormity, it’s like winning the World Cup in cricket. It’s perilous to compare different sports but maybe we can take limited liberty to draw this parallel. To put things in perspective, India beat 14-time Thomas Cup champions Indonesia in the final.
Yes, going into the tournament, India did have an outside chance but considering the immense talent the team has, winning the title was always possible. Indian men have always had the potential. There were sparks of individual brilliance, audacious wins in Super Series events and even victories against top-ranked players. Individually, they were on top. But in the Thomas Cup the entire team has to click. Young Lakshya Sen and the stupendous improvement of the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made things easier.
The victory was not eked out in one day. It evolved and bloomed over the years. One man P Gopichand had sparked a revolution with Saina Nehwal and later P V Sindhu and the process began. The Badminton Association of India too had put certain systems in place and was supported by the Sports Authority of India whenever required, sometimes urgently too. The sport has spread. It’s not just concentrated in one place or one academy. The depth was visible. Even the talent pool is expanding, but while academies are mushrooming, talented coaches are scarce. If Saina had given belief to women, this win would give that much-needed confidence to men. The Olympics, where men had punched below their weight, would be the next target.