Bangkok: Indian men’s badminton team edged out Malaysia 3-2 to reach their first Thomas Cup semi-final in 43 years here on Thursday. India have reached semi-finals on only three occasions – 1952, 1955 and 1979. They were knocked out in the quarters of the last edition in 2020. India will face the winners between South Korea and Denmark in the last four. India’s tie went down to the wire with Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy and the duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy producing the wins. The team was put on the backfoot after world No.7 Lakshya Sen lost the opening rubber to world No. 6 Lee Zii Jia. The Indian, Sen came into the match on the back of a 2-0 head-to-head record against Zii Jia. However, the Malaysian proved too good for Sen as he came from behind to win the tight first game before dominating the next 23-21, 21-9. Indian men’s duo of Shetty and Rankireddy levelled the scores in the second fixture. The pair played out in-form Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin to win the match 21-19, 21-15. The world championships silver medallist Srikanth then gave India the much-needed lead in the third tie. Srikanth saw off NG Tze Yong in straight games 21-11, 21-17. Malaysia bounced back in the fourth rubber, with Aaron Chia and Teo Ee downing Krishna Prasad and Vishnuvardhan Panjala 21-19, 21-17. In a heated final tie, Prannoy stepped up against Leong Jun Hao to take India over the line. The Malaysian made plenty of unforced errors, while Prannoy maintained his calm to clinch the match 21-13, 21-8. (UNI)
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