Chengdu (China), April 29

Defending champions India sailed to the knockout stage of the Thomas Cup with a 5-0 rout of England in a Group C contest here today.

India, who defeated Thailand 4-1 in their opening tie, notched up a second consecutive win to qualify for the quarterfinals.

HS Prannoy returned to winning ways, defeating Harry Huang 21-15 21-15 to give India a 1-0 lead.

“To give a start to the team is really important, it gives a good boost to the team to go ahead. It is really important to finish off the matches clinically, you saw against Thailand one match was bad for us,” Prannoy said after his match.

The star pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty was stretched to three games by Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in the first doubles match before picking up a 21-17 19-21 21-15 win in one hour and five minutes.

Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth recorded a 21-16 21-11 victory over Nadeem Dalvi to give India an unassailable 3-0 lead.

“Happy with the way both the matches have gone for me (in the tournament). There is a lot of pressure on players to win games. I feel I have played little easier opponents so far. But from now we will face better opponents and I have to be my best,” Srikanth said. On his recent form, Srikanth said: “I’m playing well but not able to pull off the matches. Obviously people will compare how I was playing from 2021-2022. I was in my 20s then.”

The second doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila then brushed aside Rory Easton and Alex Green 21-17 21-19.

In the final match, 24-year-old Kiran George prevailed 21-18 21-12 over Cholan Kayan to wrap it up.

India will take on group toppers and record 14-time champions Indonesia in their final group fixture tomorrow. — PTI

Seven Indians to compete in Paris Games

New Delhi: Seven Indian shuttlers, including former world champion PV Sindhu, have officially qualified for the Paris Games across four categories based on their Olympic Games qualification rankings. While Sindhu and ace singles men’s shuttlers HS Pranoy and Lakshya Sen had sealed their Olympics spots long back, the formality was completed today, the cut-off date set by international badminton federation (BWF). As per the criteria, the top-16 shuttlers in men’s and women’s singles based on their Olympic Games qualification rankings on the cut-off date book their tickets to the quadrennial showpiece. Sindhu was placed 12th, while Prannoy and Sen were placed ninth and 13th, respectively, in men’s singles. The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty was placed third at the end of the Olympics qualification cycle and will go into the Olympics as one of the best medal hopes for the country.