India script memorable win over Chinese Taipei

Anand Pawar

India might have been dumped out of contention for the Thomas Cup final rounds, but on Saturday they earned one of their best-ever team wins with a come-from-behind result over Chinese Taipei at the Asian Zone preliminaries. The architects of the victory were new national champion Sourabh Verma, the young pair of Akshay Dewalkar/ Pranav Chopra and Anand Pawar.

The Indians showed character in climbing back from a 0-2 deficit. Top-ranked Indian and world No.27 Ajay Jayaram failed to capitalize on his first-game win over No.32 Jen Hao Hsu and fell in three games, and the situation became dire for India when Rupesh Kumar/ Sanave Thomas were summarily dismissed 21-18 21-17 by world No.11 pair Sheng Mu Lee/ Chieh Min Fang.

However, world No.48 Sourabh Verma authored a stirring comeback for the Indians by first clinching a tight 22-20 first game over No.55 Tien Chen Chou. Verma held a 19-12 lead but Chou showed immense resolve to tie it at 19 and then even hold game point at 20-19. Verma fought back to take the next three points.

The second game continued in the same vein. From 12-all it became a tense fight. Verma again saved one game point to make it 20-all but this time Chou took the next two points and forced the decider.

Verma’s meteoric rise over the last year has been credited to his great mental stability and resoluteness in three-setters, and yet again he proved what a tough customer he is. From 12-all he steadily built a lead and finally sealed the win 21-18 in the third to get India to 1-2.

Akshay Dewalkar and Pranav Chopra haven’t had a memorable Thomas Cup at Macau, but on Saturday, they upset world No.37 pair Min Chun Liao/ Wu Chun Wei 21-18 24-22 to bring India level at 2-2.

Finally, Anand Pawar ensured a memorable win for India with a 21-13 21-19 result over Yu Hsien Lin.