India wins historic Thomas Cup, Centre announces Rs 1 crore award

A determined Indian men's team etched its name in the history books by lifting the Thomas Cup title for the first time with a dominant 3-0 win over 14-time champions Indonesia in the final here on Sunday.

India dished out a performance for the ages with World Championships medallist Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and world number 8 doubles duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy producing memorable performances.

After being offcolour in the knockout stages, Sen delivered when it mattered the most as he gave India a 1-0 lead with a come-from-behind 8-21 21-17 21-16 win over world number five Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in a superb show of temperament and skill.

The country's best doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then showed nerves of steel as it saved four match points in the second game to eventually outwit Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21 23-21 21-19.

In the second singles, Srikanth then produced a fine performance to outclass Asian games gold medallist Jonatan Christie 21-15 23-21 in 48 minutes to seal the contest.

Meanwhile, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur announced Rs 1 crore cash award to the Indian badminton team after the historic win. 

As #TeamIndia defeats 14-time #ThomasCup Champions Indonesia (🇮🇳3-0🇮🇩) to win its 1️⃣st ever #ThomasCup2022, @IndiaSports is proud to announce a cash award of ₹ 1 crore for the team in relaxation of rules to acknowledge this unparalleled feat!

Congratulations Team India!! https://t.co/QMVCvBDDZS

— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) May 15, 2022

Soon after the cup win, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to send congratulations to the Indian team. 

The Indian badminton team has scripted history! The entire nation is elated by India winning the Thomas Cup! Congratulations to our accomplished team and best wishes to them for their future endeavours. This win will motivate so many upcoming sportspersons.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 15, 2022  

In its road to glory, India successfully overcame strong challenges during the tournament by beating Germany and Canada 5-0 in back-to-back thumping wins. The team also drubbed five-time champions Malaysia 3-2 and 2016 winners Denmark 3-2. India's only loss came in the thrilling contest against the Chinese Taipei when the team lost 2-3.