2020 Thomas Cup: China beats India 4-1, have finished as Group C toppers

Despite an excellent performance by the Indian Team, they lost their tie against China. India and China faced each other in their last group stage match of the 2020 Thomas Cup at the Ceres Arena in Aarhus, Denmark on 14 October. The defending champions China won by 4-1.

India had won its previous two matches; 5-0 against Netherlands & 5-0 against Tahiti.

2020 Thomas Cup – India vs China – Line-up

China 4-1 India – Group C Encounter

First, Men’s Singles where the former world no. 1 Srikanth Kidambi faced World No. 10 Shi Yuqi of China. India’s Srikanth Kidambi is currently ranked 14th in the world. It’s Shi Yuqi who won in two straight games 21-12, 21-16 in about 36 minutes. In both games, Kidambi was leading in the early minutes but Shi Yuqi gained control and dominated the match. Hence, China leading by 1-0.

Meanwhile, Next is Men’s Doubles as India’s pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty was up against the Chinese duo of He Jiting/Zhou Haodong. The Indian pair are currently 10th in the world, facing relatively a new pair. The Indian pair dominated the match as they won in two straight games 21-14, 21-14 in forty-one minutes. Thus, India level 1-1.

Thrilling Match – the 2nd Men’s Singles

In 2nd Men’s Singles match, Sameer Verma of India faced China’s Lu Guangzu. Both players are currently ranked 28th and 27th respectively in the BWF World Ranking. What a match, heading into the decider as everyone are on the edge of their seats. The final game, tested the nerves of both players as Lu Guangzu emerged victorious 14-21, 21-9, 24-22. This encounter lasted for about 1hour & 23 minutes. Hence, China leading by 2-1.

Then, Next up 2nd Men’s Doubles match where the Indian duo of Arjun M.R./Dhruv Kapila was up against China’s pair of Liu Cheng/Wang Yilyu. The Indians are ranked 46th in the world. Another entertaining match as Liu Cheng/Wang Yilyu pulled a win, they were trailing by more points in the 1st game but just took it to 26-24. The Chinese duo won in two straight games 26-24, 21-19 in about 52 minutes. Thus, confirming China’s win as they lead 3-1 and have finished at the top in Group C.

The last fixture of the tie was the 3rd Men’s Singles match as World No. 92 Kiran George of India faced the 65th Ranked Li Shifeng of China. Two 21-year-olds battle it out, but the Chinese won the match in two straight games 21-15, 21-17 in about 43 minutes. Thus, China 4-1 India.

As a result, the exciting encounter ended with China winning by 4-1 against India. Both the teams have advanced into the quarter-finals of the 2020 Thomas Cup. This tie determined who would finish at top of Group C and its China.