2 May, 2024
England’s men bowed out of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas Cup in the group stage after a young side fell short to strong opposition in Group C.
Reigning champions India and a dominant Indonesian team both advanced to the knockouts as England lost out to the two countries and Thailand.
The team’s first bout in Chengdu was against Indonesia, whose depth proved too powerful as they won 5-0 in the opening matches.
YOXEX All England Badminton Championships men’s singles winner Jonatan Christie came up against Nadeem Dalvi and won 21-16 21-12 while Ben Lane and Sean Vendy fell to old foes Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-18 21-12.
A meeting with last year’s winners India followed where Lane and Vendy took Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to a third game but lost 21-17 19-21 21-15 over one hour and five minutes of action.
Cholan Kayan fought hard against Kiran George in the final match of the day but succumbed to a 21-18 21-12 defeat as England lost 5-0 overall.
Rory Easton and Callum Hemming secured England’s first win of the men’s tournament, beating Thailand’s Tanadon Punpanich and Wachirawit Sothon 21-16 23-21 in the doubles.
England lost 4-1 against their final Group C opponents and did not advance to the knockouts but the team of nine gained valuable experience in China at the prestigious competition.
Image credit: BadmintonPhoto
