It is a big day in Horsens as the knockout stage of the Thomas Cup gets underway. India, the 2022 champions, will take on Chinese Taipei in their quarter-final tie on Friday, 1 May. The Lakshya Sen-led Indian team will be aiming to progress beyond the quarter-final stage for the first time since their title-winning run four years ago, but Chinese Taipei are far from pushovers.
The quarter-final between India and Chinese Taipei is scheduled to begin no earlier than 1:30 pm IST (10:00 am local time). Live streaming will be available on JioHotstar, while television coverage will be broadcast on Star Sports.
India were knocked out by China in the quarter-finals of the 2024 edition of the Thomas Cup, but the Asian powerhouse will be determined to go beyond the last-eight stage and make a deep run in Horsens this time.
India booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 4–1 win over Canada and a dominant 5–0 victory against Australia in the group stage. However, they suffered a narrow 2–3 defeat to defending champions China in their final league match.
Chinese Taipei, meanwhile, lost to Korea during the group stage but still topped their group, which also included Denmark and Sweden. The Chou Tien Chen-led side were on the brink of elimination after losing their first two singles matches to Denmark on Wednesday. However, they staged a strong comeback, edging past the European side 3–2 by winning both doubles matches and the final singles rubber.
Notably, traditional powerhouses Korea and Indonesia failed to progress beyond the group stage, as Horsens has already witnessed several major upsets over the past few days.
INDIA vs CHINESE TAIPEI LINE-UP (World Rankings in brackets)
- First singles: Lakshya Sen (11) vs Chou Tien Chen (6)
- First doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (4) vs Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Wang Chi-lin (14)
- Second singles: Ayush Shetty (18) vs Lin Chun-yi (8)
- Second doubles: MR Arjun/Hariharan Amsakarunan (34) vs Liu Kuang Heng/Yang Po-hsuan
- Third singles: Kidambi Srikanth (30) vs Chi Yu-jen (21)
THOMAS CUP QUARTER-FINAL: PREDICTION
India hold a slight edge heading into their quarter-final clash against Chinese Taipei.
Lakshya Sen has avoided a meeting with Lin Chun-yi, the India Open and All England champion—a significant factor given that Lakshya has yet to defeat Lin in five encounters, including two heartbreaking losses earlier this year in the finals of the India Open and the All England.
That said, Chou Tien Chen, one of the most experienced players on the circuit, will present a stern test. Lakshya can, however, draw confidence from having beaten Chou in their last two meetings, including the semi-final of the Australian Open last year.
Both Lakshya and Chou enter this contest on the back of defeats—Lakshya lost to Li Shi Feng of China, while Chou was beaten by Anders Antonsen.
India will place considerable reliance on the doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who hold a 2–0 head-to-head advantage over their opponents in this tie. India also appear to have the upper hand in the second doubles match, given the impressive performance by Arjun and Amsakarunan in their victory against China on Wednesday.
Ayush Shetty, meanwhile, faces a challenging assignment against Lin, who himself suffered a defeat to World No. 41 Magnus Johannesen. It will be intriguing to see how the youngster handles the aggressive, left-handed style of his opponent.
India have opted not to field HS Prannoy, who registered a win against China earlier in the tournament. Instead, they have turned to the composure and experience of Kidambi Srikanth, who could prove crucial if the tie goes the distance.
– Ends
