Anurag Thakur announces ₹1 crore cash award for Indian men's team for clinching Thomas Cup trophy
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday announced a cash award of ₹1 crore to the Indian men’s badminton team which created history by winning the coveted Thomas Cup title for the first time.
India scripted a spectacular 3-0 victory over 14-time champions Indonesia in the Thomas Cup final in Bangkok on Sunday.
“India’s extraordinary feat of winning the Thomas Cup with successive victories over Malaysia, Denmark and Indonesia in the play-offs called for a relaxation of rules," said Thakur in a statement.
"It is with pride that I announce the award of ₹1 crore to the team that Indians so much joy this weekend.”
Thakur complimented the players, coaches and support staff of the Indian team for the historic triumph.
“Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy kept a clean slate by winning each time they stepped on court. The doubles combination of SatwiksairakjRankireddy and Chirag Shetty raised the bar to win decisive points in five of the six matches, including all three in the knockout stage," he said.
"Lakshya Sen showed nerves of steel in winning the opening match against Indonesia. I am sure that doubles combination of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila ad Krishna Prasad Garaga and Panjala Vishnuvardhan Goud as well as Priyanshu Rajawat will have gained immensely by being part of this historic campaign."
The Sports Ministry said it contributed to the unprecedented success of the team by providing the players training and competition support.
"A 10-week National Camp starting January helped raise fitness levels of the players. The support to engage Mathias Boe as coach to assist the doubles combinations has been significant as well," the statement added.
"Over the past four years, the Ministry has extended funding worth ₹67.19 crore to the Indian badminton players towards training and competition, including salaries of foreign and Indian coaches.
"And in the past year alone, the Ministry has supported as many as 14 international exposure trips at a cost of ₹4.50 crore."
India finished second in Group C behind Chinese Taipei to qualify for the knockout stage, where they came up on top against strong Malaysian and Danish teams in the quarter-finals and semifinals, respectively.
Starting the tie, Lakshya Sen clinched the first point for India after defeating Anthony Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-16.
Ginting looked fast, accurate and extremely dangerous in the opening stage, enjoying a twelve-point run, to claim the opening game 21-8 in just 17 minutes. But Lakshya Sen responded brilliantly in the second game to take the match to the decider, by winning it 21-17.Sen completed the comeback by winning the match 8-21, 21-17, 21-16.
In the second match of the tie, the Indonesian scratch pairing of Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo got off to the right start after winning their opening match 21-18.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then survived four match points to come back and snatch the win in the second game, 23-21. Indians won the deciding game to clinch the match 18-21, 23-21, 21-19.
In the third match of the tie, India's Kidambi Srikanth took the opening game against Indonesia's Jonatan Christie 21-15 and clinched the match and final by winning the second game 23-21.
The Indian team, featuring Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and others, have given a good account of themselves at this year's tournament.
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