India's Thomas Cup Of Joy

Chirag Shetty floating in the air, cocky enough to essay an audacious ‘tweener’ (that dripping-in-arrogance return shot from between the legs) in that pressure cooker setting, and then pretty much staying afloat till Kidambi Srikanth smashed home the winner past his Indonesian rival’s weekend left... these are images that will stay with you for a long time to come.

- Manne.Ratnakar

Like Shetty in his doubles win with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy reinforcing the tone set by an indefatigable Lakshya Sen in the opening singles, it was in the air. Ordained in the stars, it was in the written in the tea leaves that stayed back in your cups you lazily forgot to put away this Sunday morning.

Of all the sporting triumphs, and there have been a few of late, India’s Thomas Cup victory should rank among its finest. For one, Indian men were stepping out of the shadow of the women, and while that is victory enough, Srikanth with his distant, seafarer eyes, Lakshya giving nothing away with his and the life-breathing twin presence of Chirag and Satwiksairaj, this all-male huddle was hurriedly scripting a new chapter in Indian sport.

Consider this: India’s emphatic, rousing 3-0 verdict came over a 14-time previous winner. Seventy-three years since the inception of the Thomas, India was making history by becoming only the sixth nation to win the world men’s team championship.

In Bangkok on Sunday, the Indonesians, original gangsters of this global hustle, could be forgiven for feeling a little perplexed, looking bemused. This was supposed to be an elite badminton final, our drawing-room, this where we set the rules of engagement, they said. Why was it being usurped, they asked? And why were we unable to do anything about it, they wailed in their heads? The Indonesians should have known. In this strange avalanche of intent and tamed aggression that blew them away, the Indian men were only borrowing that mindset which Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu had discovered by themselves with their pioneering efforts for years on the elite badminton circuit.