New Delhi, May 18: India will be fielding a young team at the prestigious Thomas Cup finals, but B Sai Praneeth said Friday they have the firepower to reach the knockout stage and also return with a medal. The last time India made it to the knockouts was in 2010 at Malaysia.
“Competition is tough. All teams are tough. If we could have gone with a full strength team with (Kidambi) Srikanth and Satwik-Chirag, we had a very good chance of winning Thomas Cup this time. But even now we have a good young team and we can come back with a medal,” Praneeth told this agency.
India have been clubbed with Australia, France and heavyweights China in Group A for the event starting Sunday at Bangkok.
“The draw is okay this time. We have China and France in our group and we have to win against the latter to make it to the quarterfinals. Last two times we were seeded in 9/16, so we had to play two tough teams in the pool but this time we are in the top eight. So we got a better draw and that increases our chance to qualify for the quarterfinals,” Praneeth informed.
The 25-year-old from Hyderabad said the team are focused on beating France on the opening day, but added it won’t be easy.
“We have to surely beat France; they are not an easy team. Brice Leverdez and Lucas Corvee are good and we can’t take them for guaranteed. If we defeat France, that’s a huge step in qualifying for the last eight stage,” Praneeth asserted.
World No.9 HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and young Lakshya Sen will lead India’s challenge in the singles, while national champions, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy and the young combo Arjun MR and Ramchandran Shlok will have the responsibility of secure wins in doubles.
China, Malaysia, Indonesia or Korea, they are equal to us because like them we also have three very good singles players. They will be under pressure because they are being touted as favourites
B Sai Praneeth
