Ayush Shetty and Christo Popov greet after their singles match at the Thomas Cup semifinals on May 2, 2026. Picture: YouTube/@BWF

Having delivered the decisive win in India’s 3-0 quarterfinal triumph over Chinese Taipei, rising shuttler Ayush Shetty said there is collective belief within the team that they can reclaim the title they won in 2022.

The 20-year-old secured a stunning 21-16, 21-17 win over world No. 8 and reigning All England Open Badminton Championships champion Lin Chun-Yi in the second singles to seal the contest.

“We believe that we can go all the way. It’s always been like this. We have a solid team and everyone believes that we can do it,” Ayush, who recently reached the final of the Badminton Asia Championships, told BWF.

Comparing the knockout clash to the group stage, Ayush admitted there was added pressure but credited India’s early momentum for easing the situation.

“Yesterday was the group stage, but today there was a bit more pressure. Being 2-0 up made it a bit easier. I think I played with confidence and I’m happy to win for the team,” said Ayush, who has won all his matches so far in his maiden Thomas Cup apperance.

Ayush said his strategy was to stay aggressive and deny his opponent opportunities to dictate play.

“He’s an All England champion and has a really strong attack. The plan was to attack more and not give him many chances, and I think I executed that pretty well. I’m happy,” he said.

No overthinking: Lakshya

Playing the first singles, Lakshya Sen saved two match points to script an 18-21, 22-20, 21-17 win over the world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen to set the tone.

Lakshya credited a shift in mindset and a more proactive approach for his stunning comeback win, saying he stopped “overthinking” and trusted his instincts in the decisive moments.

“It was a really good first game from him. He was much more fearless and I was a bit unsure whether to attack or defend,” Lakshya said.

“The second and third game, even though they went to deuce, I just took an approach of not waiting for things to happen. I tried to be more proactive, especially in the closing stages.” The Almora shuttler said the team event pressure initially affected his decision-making, but timely advice from his coach helped him reset mentally.

“I wasn’t thinking too much about the last match, but in a team event there is a different kind of pressure. In the first game and even early in the second, I was thinking ‘what will happen’,” he said.

“My coach told me I didn’t look confident and that I was overthinking my strategies. He asked me to stop thinking too much and just play with my instincts. That’s what I tried to do in the second and third game.” Lakshya also highlighted the tactical adjustment that turned the match in his favour, as he moved away from short lifts and engaged Chou in longer rallies.

“In the first game, I was giving a lot of short lifts and he could jump and kill the smashes. But in the second and third, I was able to get him into longer rallies and move him around, which helped me play my shots better,” he said.

Acknowledging Chou’s experience and ability to raise his level in crunch moments, Lakshya said the key was to stay composed and push harder in tight situations.

“You always know that in the closing stages he will up the pace and put pressure on you. He is very experienced in those situations,” he said.

“The margins are always very small when we play. You just have to fight till the end and when it’s 15-all or 16-all, you need to give that extra five to ten per cent.” Having progressed to the semifinals, the former champions are assured of at least a bronze.

Staying calm: Chirag

World No. 4 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the Asian Games champions, also defeated Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin 23-21 19-21 21-12 in an hour and 15 minutes to put India in a commanding position.

“We really wanted that first tie in our favor. In the group stages, Lakshya lost two matches. So he really wanted it and we had actually gone to the place where we actually assembled before the match and to see him win from 20-18 down 20-20 and the way he celebrated it, I also celebrated the same way,” Chirag said.

Reflecting on their match, Satwik said: “I think we needed to be a little bit calm on our strokes, we are just too excited or too nervous, like few points we are playing right strategy, but execution was not so good.

“We had to calm down ourselves and that’s what we did I think at 19-17 somewhere. We thought let’s play the full court, we’ll just open up and see what they come up.

“So, I think that’s what I’ll play throughout the game I think we in the second game also we just kept our calm, a few points here and there would have finished. But third game also, we kept our calm and we just wanted to play a little bit more calm and stick to the strategy.”

Published – May 02, 2026 10:46 am IST