Thomas Cup: Lack of foreign coach no hindrance to Indian shuttlers

The lack of a foreign coach proved no hindrance as India won the Thomas Cup in Bangkok on Sunday.

The sudden exit of Indonesian coach Agus Santoso seemed to have spurred Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy to perform better. Both were unbeaten in the tournament.

Thomas Cup win: Wish Team India

While Lakshya Sen trains in Bangalore with U Vimal Kumar, the other singles players train at the Gopichand Academy. Gopichand groomed Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, Prannoy and others to be world beaters.

But with Gopichand over-burdened, managing the work load of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and about six men’s singles players, an arrangement was made for separate foreign coaches for women, men and the doubles teams with the help of SAI and BAI. The arrangement did not last long, however, as the foreign coaches got lucrative offers from other countries and left.

1/10:​India crush Indonesia

<p>India's men's badminton team pulled off a major upset by crushing 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 in the final on Sunday to win their maiden Thomas Cup title. (PTI Photo)</p>

2/10:​Lakshya Sen

<p>Lakshya Sen set the tone for the first-time finalists when he stunned Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the first singles at the Impact Arena. (PTI Photo)</p>

3/10:Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty

<p>Satwiksairaj Rankireddy combined with Chirag Shetty for a similar come-from-behind victory over Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the first doubles. (AFP Photo)</p>

4/10:​Kidambi Srikanth

<p>Kidambi Srikanth tamed Jonatan Christie 21-15, 23-21 in the second singles as India became only the sixth nation to win the coveted trophy. (AP Photo)</p>

5/10:The slugfest

<p>After a 48-minute slugfest, Srikanth leapt to drill a crosscourt smash to Christie's left. (AFP Photo)</p>

6/10:The roar

<p>The importance of his win was not lost on Srikanth who dropped his racket and let out a roar before being mobbed by his team mates who invaded the court. (AP Photo)</p>

7/10:No fluke

<p>India proved their knockout stage victories over five-time champions Malaysia and 2016 winners Denmark were no fluke as they produced another courageous display against the badminton powerhouse. (AP Photo)</p>

8/10:Sen prevails in the decider

<p>Sen typified that fight in his 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 victory against Ginting even though he was outplayed in the first game but he won the second and overcame a 7-11 deficit in the decider to prevail. (AFP Photo)</p>

9/10:4 match points saved

<p>The first doubles match followed a similar script with Rankireddy and Shetty losing the first game, but they saved four match points in the second to roar back and prevailed 18-21, 23-21, 21-19. (AFP Photo)</p>

10/10:India win without dropping a match

<p>Srikanth kept it simple by winning the first game in 19 minutes, but Christie put up more resistance in the second game but Srikanth's reflexes at the net and calculated aggression ensured India won the final without dropping a match. (Photo Courtesy: Kidambi Srikanth Twitter)</p>

In Pics: India stun Indonesia to win maiden Thomas Cup title

When Agus left last year, it again fell to Gopichand and Siyadatullah to train the men and the players seemed to have benefited from the experience. Siyadat travelled with the men's singles players and guided them courtside.

Siyadat has been with Gopichand since the academy started in 2006. He was Sindhu’s coach in her formative years as well. Given his experience, the players now look up to him for advice during the matches. “I have been working with them for the last 15 years and have travelled with them. For the last eight months, I’ve completely focused on these players under the guidance of Gopi anna,” Siyadat told TOI from Bangkok.

Even the doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been without a foreign coach since February 2021. Denmark’s Mathias Boe helped them before the Tokyo Olympics and returned a couple of weeks before the Thomas Cup.

All this while, the teams trained with Arun Vishnu and Vijaydeep Singh. “Foreign coaches spent little time here and left whenever they got lucrative offers, citing some family problems. Our coaches work hard but get no credit. Now Mulyo Hondoyo and Kim Tan Her are trying to come back. I don’t think we need foreign coaches as our coaches are good,” said a BAI official.