All posts tagged: Thomas Cup

Coach Mathias Boe reunites with Satwik-Chirag

Coach Mathias Boe reunites with Satwik-Chirag

Published by Webster

The Danish legend and Olympic medallist Mathias Boe has rejoined Indian men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s team as a consultant. Boe, who had parted ways with the Indian pair after their unexpected quarter-final exit at the 2024 Paris Olympics two years ago, returned to the setup as a consultant. The 45-year-old Boe himself announced his return on social media, stating that he started working with Rankireddy and Shetty just before the 2026 Thomas Cup, where India bagged a bronze medal. “Since I now have a bit more time on my hands, pre Thomas Cup I have secretly started working with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty again,” he wrote in a post. “This time as a consultant and sparring for Tan Kim Her, where my focus is going to be on the tactical aspects and match analyses, while coach Tan will stay full time with them,” added Boe. Boe revealed that he’ll continue working with Rankireddy and Shetty for the upcoming 2026 BWF World Championships in Delhi and will feature in the coaching …

Thomas Cup 2026: The man who cooked Dal at midnight | Badminton News

Thomas Cup 2026: The man who cooked Dal at midnight | Badminton News

Published by Webster

Anders Antonsen was furious. Denmark had just lost to India 3-2 in the 2022 Thomas Cup semifinals in Bangkok, and as he walked past, the world number two pulled off his sweat-soaked jersey and flung it at Vijaydeep Singh’s face. Not a gesture of sportsmanship. Pure, unfiltered rage. Peace was eventually brokered in the washroom. The Danish head coach and Mathias Boe mediated. Antonsen apologised, profusely. They hugged it out. “I understood why,” Vijaydeep says. “India winning was troubling the storied powerhouses that much.” That moment — a Danish star’s disbelief expressed through a sweaty jersey — told Vijaydeep everything he needed to know. Indian badminton had not just won a match. It had become a threat. *** Vijaydeep comes to badminton through blood. His father, Pitamber Singh, was India’s first badminton head coach at NIS Patiala. Growing up on that campus, Vijaydeep dabbled in swimming, even trained in cricket alongside Navjot Singh Sidhu under Col. CK Nayudu. But badminton pulled harder. Multiple national titles in doubles followed, as did Thomas Cup appearances in the …

India’s history at Thomas Cup

India’s history at Thomas Cup

Published by Webster

India has had a strong run in the 2026 Thomas Cup with the team reaching the semi-finals of the tournament only for the second time in history. Their only defeat came in the final group stage tie against China. With a place in the semi-finals secured, India now have an assured medal and will look to go further in the competition. This performance continues India’s long evolving journey in the tournament, which has seen both early success and periods of struggle. India’s history at Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup is the world men’s team badminton championship. It was first held in the 1948-49 season. It was initially held every three years, but has been conducted biannually since 1982. India made its debut in 1952 and made an immediate impact by reaching the top-3. They lost narrowly to the USA in the second round to finish third in the competition. India repeated a similar performance in 1955, once again reaching the top-4 before losing to Denmark 3-6. The Thomas Cup had a different format from 1949 …

Thomas Cup intrigue: Can Ayush Shetty topple Chun-Yi? | Badminton News

Thomas Cup intrigue: Can Ayush Shetty topple Chun-Yi? | Badminton News

Published by Webster

5 min readApr 30, 2026 07:32 PM IST The spectre of Lin Chun-Yi hangs on the India vs Chinese Taipei Thomas Cup 2026 quarterfinals tie on Friday. Known to Indians as the man who defeated Ayush Shetty in the finals of the Badminton Asia Championships, and to many in Delhi as the winner of the India Open Super 750, Chun-Yi. is an All England champion, and the next in line of Taiwanese titans in the making. As India were drawn to play Taiwan, the immediate concern was the second Men’s Singles, which will once more pit Ayush against Chun-Yi. Given the fast court conditions and his results this year, he threatens a blowout for Ayush Shetty. But Chun-Yi did not play in the Sweden and Korea tie (which Taiwan lost 2-3), before turning up against Denmark where he went down to Magnus Johannesen 17-21, 21-16, 21-19 in the 3-2 win, putting a question mark on his fitness. One thing that this immediately does is allow Lakshya Sen to put his head down, move under the …

Ayush Shetty makes it 1-3 for India vs China in Thomas Cup | Badminton News

Ayush Shetty makes it 1-3 for India vs China in Thomas Cup | Badminton News

Published by Webster

Ayush Shetty gave the clearest sign that Indian badminton in the future will pivot on his potential, as he fetched India its first point of the Thomas Cup group tie against China at Horsens, Denmark. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty saved five match points against arch rivals Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in the decider but could not avoid a heartbreaking 13-21, 21-13, 24-26 defeat in the first doubles as India went down 0-2. Lakshya Sen had earlier found the errors going for the wretched baseline, at the worst moments possible, as he allowed Li Shifeng to sprint away from 13-12 in the decider to flatline, 19-21, 21-8, 21-16. Lakshya Sen later told BWF, “Had my chances in first game. Started well to win second. Kept in mind to not give Shifeng easy short lifts and opportunity to finish. China was our first strong opponent. There was no pressure from coaches to win matches, because we had already qualified for quarters (on Friday). (Winning tournament is the target). We are looking to get into momentum …

India vs China at Thomas Cup: Can Lakshya, Satwik-Chirag finally end the jinx? | Badminton News

India vs China at Thomas Cup: Can Lakshya, Satwik-Chirag finally end the jinx? | Badminton News

Published by Webster

5 min readUpdated: Apr 28, 2026 10:43 PM IST Will Shi, won’t Shi? Shi Yuqi, the world No 1 by a distance, reportedly suffered acute gastroenteritis on Sunday night and withdrew from China’s tie against Canada. Whether he shows up to face India at Horsens, Denmark on Wednesday is the first question hanging over this group tie. If he doesn’t, Li Shifeng, Weng Hong Yang and Lu Guangzu could line up. If he does — well, that is a different problem entirely. But here is the larger truth, the one that has sat over Indian badminton for two decades: India have never beaten China at a Thomas Cup. Not once. “While India is getting closer to beating them, on paper, the Chinese are always ranked way higher. So beating them would be incredible, but it’s not a given by rankings,” says Parupalli Kashyap, a former Thomas Cupper and now a coach. “Having said that, maybe some of our players will say, ‘It’s high time we beat China’ and will be charged up. But whether it’ll …

China’s No 1 singles player Shi Yuqi suffering from gastroenteritis: Chinese media at the Thomas Cup | Badminton News

China’s No 1 singles player Shi Yuqi suffering from gastroenteritis: Chinese media at the Thomas Cup | Badminton News

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 27, 2026 06:56 PM IST Chinese media reported that World No 1 Shi Yuqi had been struck by a case of acute gastroenteritis on Sunday night leading to his withdrawal from the Canada tie game against Victor Lai on Monday. The Twitter account Zee @zhiyiilyy posted that CCTV reporter Zhang Hongda, Yuqi slated to play first singles on Monday morning was in no position to take to the court against Canada. “Around 8 am Shi Yuqi arrived at the venue with the Chinese team. However unusually he didn’t warm up. According to the referee, Shi Yuqi came to him clutching his stomach saying he had to withdraw due to illness,” the post stated. Preliminary information, as per the report, indicated that Shi Yuqi suffered a “sudden attack of acute gastroenteritis last night.” “After a nights sleep, his condition didn’t improve significantly.qnd he was extremely weak and completely unable to compete. He had taken antibiotics and returned to the hotel to rest immediately after submitting his withdrawal request,” it further said. Hongda speculated …

Big-smashing Ayush Shetty leads India to first-ever win over Canada

Big-smashing Ayush Shetty leads India to first-ever win over Canada

Published by Webster

The Thomas and Uber Cup venue, Forum Horsens, kept playing Elton John’s Sacrifice on a loop, while the Jutland coastal city, a cultural hub that has hosted Metallica and Madonna, created a constant musical riff around it. Star acts hit high notes and low at Horsens often, and the city knows that it takes all sorts in a band to make the best music. Lakshya Sen, India’s man under the constant pump playing first singles, lost the Thomas Cup opening match to Victor Lai, 21-18, 19-21, 10-21. But first Satwik-Chirag and then Ayush Shetty settled the nerves, before Hari-Arjun and Kidambi Srikanth wrapped up a 4-1 tie win over Canada, to get India started in a team World Cup, where seniors will usher in and mentor juniors like Ayush and Hariharan Amsakumaran; in what might be Prannoy and Srikanth’s last outing in badminton’s version of the World Cup. Ayush, who had watched India win the 2022 edition making history, on TV, had played the same opponent, Brian Yang, six weeks back at the Swiss Open. …

India men beat Canada; women lose to Denmark

India men beat Canada; women lose to Denmark

Published by Webster

The Indian men’s and women’s team had a contrasting start to their campaign at the 2026 Thomas and Uber Cup in Horsens, Denmark on Friday. Up against Canada, the Indian men’s team came-from-behind to register a 4-1 victory, while the women’s team went down to Denmark 2-3 later in the day. India did not have the best of starts to their Thomas Cup campaign as Lakshya Sen went down to the 2025 BWF World Championships medallist Victor Lai in the opening match of the tie. Sen, who had beaten Lai during his run at the 2026 All England Open Super 1000 earlier this year, went down 18-21, 21-19, 21-10 in 71 minutes to hand Canada the lead. But India fought back with ease as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won their men’s doubles match 21-10, 21-11 over Jonathan Lai and Kevin Lee to put India back on level terms. The former world No 1 pair turned the complexion of the tie as the rest of the players rode the momentum to close out the match …

Time for debutants Ayush Shetty, Devika Sihag to step up to Thomas and Uber Cup challenge

Time for debutants Ayush Shetty, Devika Sihag to step up to Thomas and Uber Cup challenge

Published by Webster

The Asian Team championships in February were a disaster for India. However, a rejuvenated Lakshya Sen and a hungry PV Sindhu will want to make amends at the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals to be held in Horsens, Denmark from April 24 to May 3. Sen is in good nick since the All England, and Sindhu who missed the Birmingham meet after being stranded at Dubai in transit, will want to take a shy at the big names in the TUC, akin to badminton’s team World Cup. The Indian men won the Thomas Cup making history in 2022, a feat that many reckon wasn’t as celebrated as it ought to have been. But the core of that team – Sen, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth in singles, as well as India’s best performing international shuttlers, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty – around the Top 5 mark, would want to give it their all in what could be a last shy at title No 2 for the seniors. The men’s section is terribly hard to crack, …