Indian badminton must seize the moment after historic Thomas Cup triumph

The celebration is justified, but it’s also time to realistically assess the state of the game in the country. It’s important to learn from the past, enforce greater accountability across the board, ensure talent is identified correctly and given the best chance to succeed at the highest level

In the last 15 years, India’s male shuttlers have played second fiddle to the tone set by former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal, 2019 World champion P.V. Sindhu and the popular duo of G. Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa. Even as a team, these ladies held the bragging rights after claiming bronze medals in the 2014 and 2016 editions of the Uber Cup.

In fact, in the Thomas Cup, India had nothing to be proud of. After all, until the past week, India had not reached the semifinals since 1979.

Even in the Sudirman Cup — the international mixed-team championship — India’s best challenges ended in the quarterfinals of the 2011 and 2017 editions. Not a single semifinal appearance in 16 appearances since 1991 speaks for itself.

In short, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel appeared far and dim. But it took just one dramatic week of badminton to bring the prowess of the Indian men under the spotlight.

Significantly, India, in a campaign that culminated with an almost unreal 3-0 conquest of defending champion and 14-time winner Indonesia, also slammed the door on former holders Malaysia and Denmark.

For the record, India followed Chinese Taipei into the quarterfinals after beating group-mates Canada and Germany. The defeat to Chinese Taipei was a dampener but India stunned formidable Malaysia in the last eight. A hard-fought 3-2 victory meant a face-off with Denmark, a team that had three men ranked 1, 3 and 13 in the world. Denmark was clearly the ranking favourite but India’s ‘winning template’ worked once again.

What was India’s winning template?