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2 min readApr 27, 2026 02:46 PM IST
FILE: Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen in action. (Express Photo | Abhinav Saha)
Indians wrapped up their Thomas Cup Australia tie in just 101 minutes, as Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty all won in straight sets, to take the 3-0 lead against Australia.
Shi Yuqi of China, the first singles player, interestingly gave a walkover to Canada’s energy sapper Victor Lai. India will take on China on Wednesday.
Sen, who had lost his first time game against Canada to Victor Lai, defeated Ephraim Stephen Sam of Australia 21-14, 21-16 to restore his confidence. He will be required to defeat Shi Yuqi in the China-tie, though the Chinese 30-year-old seems to have smartly given himself more rest, after what panned out at All England — a first-round scalding loss for the Chinese World champion.
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Still smarting from that loss, Yuqi is expected to come hard at Sen on Wednesday.
Ayush Shetty took a mere 26 minutes to defeat Shrey Dhand 21-8, 21-6.
Later, Satwik-Chirag won 21-14, 21-16 against Rizky Hidayat and Jack Yu. After pocketing the first, the Indians fell back 3-6. But they had had enough at 14-all and raced to a finish thereafter.
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Li Shifeng defeated Brian Yang 21,10, and Liang-Wang won 24-22, 21-14. Second doubles He-Ren were on the verge of victory at 21-15, 16-8
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