Thomas Cup: India to lock horns with Chinese Taipei in quarterfinals

HORSENS (Denmark): The Indian men’s badminton team will be in action against Chinese Taipei for the quarterfinals of the Thomas Cup, being held in Horsens, Denmark, on Friday.

Team India finished as the runners-up of Group A behind China, and their next challenge, Chinese Taipei, is the winner of Group C, as per Olympics.com.

Chinese Taipei kick-started their campaign with a dominating 5-0 win over Sweden before losing 3-2 to South Korea. Their final Group C tie saw them beat Denmark 3-2.

On the other hand, the 2022 Thomas Cup champions made their mark in the ongoing tournament with thumping 4-1 and 5-0 wins against Canada and Australia before succumbing to a 3-2 loss to China in their final group game.

The Group A winners, China, will take on the Group B runners-up, Malaysia. While Group D table-toppers Thailand will be playing Denmark. The Group B winners, Japan, will lock horns against France in the other quarterfinal matches.

Group A winners China will take on Group B runners-up Malaysia in their quarter-final encounter. If India manages to outclass Chinese Taipei, their next challenge will be the winner of the France-Japan quarterfinal match.

The semifinals of the Thomas Cup will take place on Saturday, with the tournament set for a Sunday finish. In this 34th edition of the tournament, Indonesia are the most successful team, with 14 titles, behind the defending champions China, who have 11 titles.

Earlier, the Indian women’s badminton side could not make it to the Uber Cup knockout stage, with a loss to China in their final group stage tie on Tuesday. India had lost their first group game against Denmark 2-3 and then blanked Ukraine 5-0. (ANI)