Not a finish, the Indian Badminton Fans would have wished – as the Danish players were too good, with most of them ranked well above the Indians. Hence, Denmark won 3-1 in the Thomas Cup 2020 Quarter-finals against India.
The India vs Denmark was played at the Ceres Arena in Aarhus, Denmark on Friday, October 15, 2021.
However, the Indian Team had played the Thomas Cup quarter-finals after 11 years, last in 2010.
Thomas Cup 2020 Quarter-finals – India vs Denmark – Line-up
𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐓𝐒 🔥
Checkout the 🇮🇳 team's lineup for the quarter finals of #ThomasCup2020 where they'll be up against the hosts 🇩🇰.
📺 @StarSportsIndia & @DisneyPlusHS
⏰ 5 pm* (*Tentative)All the best boys! 💪🏻#ThomasUberCup2020#Badminton pic.twitter.com/6rLPPBAvaS
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) October 15, 2021
Denmark 3-1 India – Quarter-finals
First Up is Men’s Singles match, where the Indian Srikanth Kidambi, ranked 14th in the world faced the 2020 Olympic Champion Viktor Axelsen from Denmark, currently ranks No. 2. However, the former World No. 1 Kidambi was not a barrier for the Tokyo Olympic Gold Medalist – Viktor Axelsen as he won in two straight games 21-12, 21-13 in under forty minutes. Thus, Denmark is in lead 1-0.
However, Next is Men’s Doubles match – a battle between the 10th & 11th ranked pairs. As India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty are only one place above their Danish opponents Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
India levels as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty won 21-15, 17-21, 21-18 as it went into the decider. The Indians dominated the 1st game while the Danish duo came back in the 2nd; the 3rd was neck-to-neck till last with Danish players having home support. The encounter lasted for 1h 12m. However, the Indians pair clinching victory & the tie is now levelled 1-1.
Denmark Dominates
Then, the Next – 2nd Men’s Singles match was a contest between India’s B. Sai Praneeth, 15th Ranked and the World No. 3 Anders Antonsen. Well, the 1st Game was one-sided as the Danish won 21-8. However, in the 2nd Game, it seemed B. Sai Praneeth was back in the game before the mid-game interval as the Indian was leading 11-8. But it changed drastically, as Antonsen winning a long rally completely changed the momentum. With, the Danish winning 11 straight points to reach Match Point. As a result, Anders Antonsen won in two straight games 21-8, 21-15 in 45 minutes. Thus, Denmark is in lead 2-1.
Meanwhile, the 2nd Men’s Doubles is next as 46th Ranked Arjun M.R./Dhruv Kapila of India face Mathias Christiansen/Frederik Søgaard of Denmark. In the 1st Game, the Indian Pair was leading 8-4 however from there the Danish duo won six straight points – 8-10 and then just dominated the 1st Game. Meanwhile, in the 2nd Game Mathias Christiansen/Frederik Søgaard demolished their Indian opponents. As a result, the Danish pair won in two straight games 21-16, 21-9 in 40 minutes. With this, Denmark 3-1 India and the hosts are into the semi-finals.
As a result, Denmark won 3-1 against India in the Thomas Cup 2020 Quarter-finals. Therefore, with this, the Indian Team’s Campaign at the 2020 Thomas & Uber Cup comes to an end. Like yesterday, the Indian Women’s Team lost their 2020 Uber Cup QF against Japan.
