CHENNAI: The Impact Arena in Bangkok has played host to some of the biggest personalities and bands in the world of music. Think Roger Waters, Coldplay, Beyonce, BTS and Britney Spears. On Sunday, it was jiving, heaving and grooving to the humble dhol. While the Indian fans in the stands were cranking up the noise in the arena, the Indian players tasked with rewriting history went about it in a calm, unhurried manner.
When the weight of 73-years of history finally lifted at about 3.15 PM IST on Sunday, it had a certain authority to it. Kidambi Srikanth, who had been invincible all week, stretched his record to 6-0. By the time he saw off Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in straight games and threw his racquet on the green turf before being enveloped by his onrushing teammates, the story had already started to sink in. “India are Thomas Cup champions for the first time ever”.
Of course, like every story, there are multiple protagonists who made this dream a reality. Lakshya Sen who took down Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Ginting on the first match on Sunday. HS Prannoy, a controversial direct selection that set the tongues wagging even before the team had booked their flight to the Thai capital, keeping his cool on multiple occasions. Srikanth himself bringing his zen-like focus game after game, match after match while quietly guiding the side’s many young players. The doubles stars, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who kept chipping away even when it looked the effort wasn’t translating into results.
The biggest factor, though, was the side’s mentality. Heads never dropped, shoulders never drooped and the belief never wavered as all of them embraced all of sport’s only true currency. Giving up was not an option. In modern sporting parlance, it’s known as ‘mamba mentality’ and that’s what this team embraced. The proof of this is in the pudding. This side was 21 points away from not qualifying for the final. In the end, though, this side became only the second in the meet’s history to win the event after failing to top the group phase. Mentality monsters from start to finish in the backdrop of dhols.
Behind the scenes of champions
Bonding exercise
The lead players were very secure about their place in the side. Coach U Vimal Kumar spoke about this in the post-match conference and it was in evidence when the side’s youngest player, Priyanshu Rajawat, received the Thomas Cup on the podium.
Triumph of the collective
When HS Prannoy went down clutching his ankle in the semifinal, it looked like panic stations. However, he fought through the pain barrier for the greater good. If anything defines this team, it’s this. It’s a bunch of individuals who make this team greater than the sum of their parts.
The depth
This time last year, Lakshya was No 23 in the world. A fantastic last year, including winning a bronze at the Worlds, ha s helped him become the lead player. This gave both Prannoy and Srikanth winnable matches coming in as the 2nd and 3rd singles players. End result? They returned a record of 11-0.
Road to gold
Group stage
bt Germany 5-0
bt Canada 5-0
lost to Chinese Taipei 2-3
Knockouts
Quarterfinals
bt Malaysia 3-2
Semifinals
bt Denmark 3-2
Final
bt Indonesia 3-0