India made history on Sunday by winning the Thomas Cup for the first time with a stunning 3-0 win over defending champions Indonesia in the final. India, competing in their debut final of the men's team championship, sealed the title when Kidambi Srikanth defeated higher-ranked Jonatan Christie. With India clinching the title within the first three matches meant that HS Prannoy didn't get an opportunity to take the court. But the shuttler had played a crucial part in India even reaching the final, coming to the fore when the team needed a win the most. Speaking after the historic triumph, Prannoy, in an exclusive interview with NDTV, said that he had made a WhatsApp group by the name of 'It's coming home' and revealed that it played a big role in India's win.
"I created that WhatsApp group. The name was 'It's coming home' and it actually came home. That group was very necessary and important. Wanted a group where all the players were in it because there's a lot of things that you can't share with everyone out there. The players could discuss things very freely. And that really helped. We had issues and setbacks in between. We lost to Chinese Taipei in the group stage.
"To regroup after that loss was very important. The (WhatsApp) group helped each and every player immensely. We could just express what was needed," Prannoy told NDTV.
Prannoy proved to be difference-maker in the quarterfinals and the semi-finals. During both the ties India were tied with their opponents at 2-2, meaning Prannoy had to win for India to progress. And the Indian shuttler did just that.
In the quarters, he defeated Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia 21-13, 21-8 to assure India a maiden medal in the tournament. Then again in the semis, Prannoy took on a higher-ranked Rasmus Gemke of Denmark and despite losing the first game and suffering an injury, the Indian shuttler pushed through the pain barrier to emerge victorious 13-21, 21-9, 21-12 to seal India's place in the final.
"It was scary, I would say. A scary situation, especially in the quarterfinals. We all knew that we never had a medal in the Thomas Cup and to have that we had to win the quarterfinal match. Pressure was too much for me because the start for me was bad but luckily I could get things to work from my side. Those two matches I'm really proud that I could play at such a high level. And even though, in the semi-finals, I got injured a bit in the first half where I slipped and hurt my ankle. But the way these guys were supporting from the stands, I just wanted this win for them and the entire country," said the star shuttler.
In the final on Sunday, India were already 2-0 up, with Lakshya Sen beating Anthony Ginting in the first singles match and then Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeating Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sukamuljo in the doubles.
It fell to Srikanth, a former World No.1, to seal the gold medal for India and he did just that to give India a 3-0 triumph.