Kidambi Srikanth, one of the architects of the Indian badminton team’s historic Thomas Cup triumph, described it as one of the best achievements of his career. An unannounced Indian men’s team took a dominant 3-0 victory over 14-time champions Indonesia to win the Thomas Cup for the first time, with Srikanth playing a vital role as he remained unbeaten in the tournament. “Individual events are always different from team events and we can barely play team events and Thomas Cup finals are the biggest team events. So to win such a big event is a really big moment. happened,” Srikanth said during a virtual press conference.
“I consider this one of my biggest wins and I’m glad everyone played extremely well. I don’t think this is one person’s win, it’s all 10 players, everyone stepped up when it mattered.”
Srikanth, who had won a silver medal at the World Championships in Spain last December, said he can’t compare his wins, but it was one of his biggest of his career.
“I also did well at the World Championships in December, this is another event where I did well. I just can’t compare any of my wins, I don’t want to rank any of my wins, they’re all important.
“It’s definitely one of the biggest wins, the best tournament-wise and one of my best performances.”
Srikanth said winning for the country was a big motivating factor for the team.
“In every major event, be it Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Thomas and Uber Cup, world championships, none of them have prize money. But if you win, in this tournament, it’s for the country. After we won, they said people India Thomas Cup, it wasn’t Srikanth or Prannoy, so it was a special feeling in itself,” he said.
“I don’t think everyone will be privileged to experience it, it’s us 10 players and coaching staff who have now experienced it and it will motivate others to do well. So the motivating factor was that we won this for the country.”
Srikanth came into the game after two defeats to Jonatan Christie and put on a great show to take a 21-15, 23-21 win over the Asian Games gold medalist.
Asked if he was under any pressure in the closing moments of the second game, Srikanth said: “There were nerves, also due to the fact that I was leading most of the second game. He also played very well, he has it extraordinary well done. well, I can’t really write that off in the final.”
“I just went up against him and tried to play constantly, but he played well after the 11 point break in the second game. I’m just glad I could play what I thought I was playing, I was able to finish the game and give that victory for the country.”
HS Prannoy, 29, also produced some sensational performances, winning the decisive third singles to take India home in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
There was criticism when he was released from the selection tests and immediately included in the squad.
Asked if he had silenced critics with his performance, Prannoy said: “Certainly I would say he did. I’ve always performed under pressure and to be part of this kind of team I’m really proud of.
“I am very grateful to the association for choosing me as the third single. I have always wanted to be part of the Thomas Cup and I would have regretted if I had not been chosen. I am very happy.
“Thanks everyone for the support and I think I have done justice to my performance. Nothing has sunk in yet, it still takes a few days, we have to celebrate big.”
Prannoy said that they always had the confidence to push themselves to the limit and that all they needed was the support of each other.
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“I think the feeling was always there, before we came too, we believed that this is the team that can compete for the title, but the quarter-final game was crucial because it was a lot of pressure, because we knew we still didn’t have a game. had the medal to hand.
“But we all got in at the right time, then the faith started to get better and we played 25 percent more than the previous games.”
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