New Delhi: India’s men’s team salvaged some pride before their home crowd, finishing their Thomas Cup campaign with a fighting 3-2 victory over Germany here on Wednesday.
The hosts, who had earlier lost to Malaysia and Korea, thus ending their quarter-final hopes, managed to earn two points thanks to the brilliance of K. Srikanth and R.M.V. Gurusaidutt in the inconsequential tie.
National champions Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Jerry Chopra also impressed with their fightback to get the better of Peter Kaesbauer and Josche Zurwonne 21-9, 17-21, 21-19 in the crucial second doubles.
With the tie going down to the wire, Gurusaidutt won the decisive third singles, but not before surviving some anxious moments against Lukas Schmidt. He came back from a game down to win 14-21, 21-19, 21-19 in a thrilling one hour rubber.
Though Guru started cautiously and had to frequently play catch-up, he changed the momentum of the match in the second game with well-places smashes, as the roaring crowd shifted from the main stand sensing a win for India.
Trailing 5-11, the Hyderabad lad bridged a six-point deficit before wresting the lead with a smash. In the third game, the Indian led throughout. “We badly needed the win. I am happy to pull it off. I want to thank the crowd, they really pumped me up to come back into the match,” said a relaxed Guru.
Giving a positive start to the hosts, Srikanth too had to shrug off a challenge from Marc Zwiebler, before winning 21-18, 18-21, 21-18 in 56 minutes. “It was a good experience playing my first Thomas Cup. After two defeats, I am happy to win one and finish on a high,” said Srikanth.
Second singles player Dieter Domke and Michael Fuchs, Johannes Schoettler (first doubles pair) pulled off two wins for the Germans.
Contrasting luck
Earlier, 13-time champions Indonesia came back from a point down to beat Thailand 4-1, to finish the league stage atop Pool A. Meanwhile, Malaysian men topped Pool C.
