NEW DELHI: India got their Thomas Cup campaign off to a good start by beating Canada 3-1 in their opening group game on Friday.Despite the early setback, the team bounced back quickly with solid performances in both singles and doubles to comfortably take control of the tiebreaker and seal the victory.India were on the back foot after Lakshya Sen lost a tough match to Victor Lai.But the dynamic changed when the veteran doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the fold. They dominated their match, won comfortably and brought India back into the match with authority.From there, the younger players ensured India stayed ahead. Ayush Shetty put in a confident performance to beat Brian Yang in straight games to give India the lead.
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Not long after, the doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun ended the tie with a convincing win, making the final match unnecessary.With the result already decided, Kidambi Srikanth was ready to play a dead rubber.Meanwhile, attention will also turn to the Indian women’s team, who are set to open their campaign against Denmark later in the day.
