2 min readUpdated: Apr 27, 2026 03:47 PM IST
Indians wrapped up their Thomas Cup Australia tie in just 153 minutes, as Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty all won in straight sets, to take the 3-0 lead against Australia. HS Prannoy and MR Arjun-Hariharan Amsakarunan tied up the ends, as all 5 matches were won in straight sets.
Shi Yuqi of China, the first singles player, interestingly gave a walkover to Canada’s energy sapper Victor Lai. India take on China on Wednesday.
Sen who had lost his first time game against Canada to Victor Lai, defeated Ephraim Stephen Sam of Australia 21-14, 21-16 to restore his confidence. He will be required to defeat Shi Yuqi in the China-tie, though the Chinese 30 year old seems to have smartly given himself more rest, after what panned out at All England — a first round scalding loss for the Chinese World champion.
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Still smarting from that loss, Yuqi is expected to come hard at Sen on Wednesday.
Ayush Shetty took a mere 26 minutes to defeat Shrey Dhand 21-8, 21-6.
Later, Satwik-Chirag won 21-14, 21-16 against Rizky Hidayat and Jack Yu. After pocketing the first, the Indians fell back 3-6. But they had had enough at 14-all and raced to a finish thereafter.
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HS Prannoy offered a third singles option for the China tie, with a 21-11, 21-17 win over Rishi Honda Boopathy, while Hari-Arjun won 21-12, 21-10 against Andika Ramadiansyah and Ephraim Sam.
Li Shifeng defeated Brian Yang 21,10, and Liang-Wang won 24-22, 21-14. Second doubles He-Ren won 21-15, 21-9, while Weng Hong Yang beat Timothy Lock 21-15, 21-5.
Hong Yang can be a headache for Indians in third singles (MS3), where he leads both Kidambi Srikanth and Kiran George 3-1. He is 2-2 with HS Prannoy, but much will depend on the Indian’s fitness.
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