TUC 2026: Indian men blank Australia to seal quarterfinal berth

Horsens, April 27 Former champions India blanked Australia 5-0 in the men’s Group A clash to secure a quarterfinals berth in the Thomas & Uber Cup 2026 here on Monday.

Aware that a victory against Australia will guarantee them a last eight spot, India made just one change to the team that defeated Canada, with HS Prannoy getting a match in place of Kidambi Srikanth.

Lakshya Sen began the team’s march with a 21-14, 21-16 win over Ephraim Stephen Sam and Asian Championships silver medallists Ayush Shetty made it 2-0 by defeating Shrey Dhand 21-8, 21-6 in just 26 minutes.

Former Asian Champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then put the result beyond doubt, beating Rizky Hidayat and Jack Yu 21-14, 21-16.

Prannoy and men’s doubles pairing of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun then rounded off the scoreline with convincing victories.

India had defeated Canada 4-1 in their open group tie and will next face top seeds China to decide the group winners. China had defeated Australia 5-0 and got the better of Canada 4-1 on Monday.

India will net play China in their last Group A game, a tie which will determine the group topper on Thursday.

India made history by winning the Thomas Cup title in 2022, defeating Indonesia in the final to secure its first title. This remarkable achievement marked India's rise as a global power in men’s team badminton.

Result:

Men: India beat Australia 5-0 (Lakshya Sen bt Ephraim Stephen Sam 21-14, 21-16; Ayush Shetty bt Shrey Dhand 21-8, 21-6; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty bt Rizky Hidayat/Jack Yu 21-14, 21-16; HS Prannoy bt Rishi Honda Boopathy 21-11, 21-17; Hariharan Amsakarunan/MR Arjun bt Andika Ramadiansyah/Sam 21-12, 21-10)

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