Horsens: 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. IANS
Also Read: Mohamed Salah to receive hero’s farewell at Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk