Prime Minister Narendra Modi was amongst the many who congratulated India’s Thomas Cup team after they scripted history by winning a maiden World Men’s Team Championship in Bangkok on Sunday. Former World No 1, coach Prakash Padukone’s team defeated 14-time champions 3-0. 

In a tweet, Modi said that the win ‘will motivate so many upcoming sportspersons’. 

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“The Indian badminton team has scripted history! The entire nation is elated by India winning the Thomas Cup! Congratulations to our accomplished team and best wishes to them for their future endeavours. This win will motivate so many upcoming sportspersons,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

For India, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and world number 8 doubles duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy produced memorable performances. 

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Sen came from behind to defeat world no 5 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 8-21 21-17 21-16 and give India a 1-0 lead. Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then beat Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21 23-21 21-19. Srikanth then summed up India’s dominant show by outclassing Asian games gold medallist Jonatan Christie 21-15 23-21 in 48 minutes. 

“What a moment for Indian sport – we are Thomas Cup champions for the first ever time, and we beat the best to make it happen. Congrats to the players and staff. Some things take time, but don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done,” Indian men’s football team captain Sunil Chhetri tweeted. 

Olympics gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra congratulated the team for an incredible achievement. 

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“What a historic day! An incredible achievement by an incredible Team India to win the #ThomasCup for the first time ever!! Bounced back from tough situations on numerous occasions to win Gold. Kudos to all the players and coaches. Champions, all of you!” Bindra tweeted. 

“Congratulate #TeamIndia for their historic win in men’s Badminton in the Thomas Cup. A real inspiration for so many young Indians,” Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar tweeted. 

Here is how others reacted:

Indian team, which never went past the semifinals after 1979, showed tremendous fighting spirit as it came from a match down to outwit the 2016 champions.