Thomas Cup: Indian men's team reach quarters, rout England 5-0 before Indonesia clash

The Indian men's badminton team, the defending champions, cruised to the quarterfinals of the Thomas Cup in Chengdu, China on Monday without any trouble.

Despite giving Lakshya Sen a rest, India routed England 5-0 in their second Group C tie after a 4-1 win over Thailand in the opener.

The stage is now set for the big clash between the 2022 champions India and runners-up Indonesia to determine the group topper.

Indonesia also won their last two ties as they beat England 5-0 and Thailand 4-1, with Anthony Ginting and Jonatan Christie leading the pack.

Up against England, HS Prannoy, playing the first singles, found his mojo back after losing to Kunlavut Vitidsarn in India's first tie against Thailand. Prannoy defeated Harry Huang in straight games (21-15, 21-15) to give India a crucial 1-0 lead.

But the most exciting battle of the tie prevailed between world no. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and England's Bane Lane and Sean Vendy.

Though Satwik-Chirag won an intense first game 21-17, world no. 19 Lane and Vendy maintained a two-point lead over the Indian duo throughout the second game and eventually claimed the game 19-21.

However, in the third game, Satwik-Chirag ramped up their game to earn a quick lead. Although both pairings were engaged in a neck-to-neck battle until the interval, the Indian combo broke away to a massive lead before sealing the match with a 21-15 win in the decider.

With India going 2-0 up in the tie, world no. 25 Kidambi Srikanth stepped up to register his second consecutive straight-game win at the ongoing Thomas Cup.

Srikanth needed barely 31 minutes to make quick work of unheralded Nadem Dalvi as he won 21-16, 21-11 to seal the tie in India's favour. Srikanth defeated Saran Jamsri 21-9, 21-5 last week.

As all five matches were to be played in the group stage of the men's world team championship, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, playing the second doubles match, also won their match in straight games (21-17, 21-19) in 35 minutes against Rory Eatson and Alex Green to extend India's lead to 4-0.

Kiran Goerge, stepping up in place of Lakshya, justified his selection by beating Cholan Kiyan as he won 21-18, 21-12.

India will play Indonesia in a repeat of the 2022 Thomas Cup final on May 1. In 2022, India defeated Indonesia 3-0 to clinch their maiden Thomas Cup title.