New Delhi: India opened their Thomas & Uber Cup 2026 campaign with contrasting results as the men’s team defeated Canada 4-1, while the women suffered a narrow 2-3 loss to Denmark in Group A ties on Friday.
In the Thomas Cup tie in Horsens, Denmark, India recovered from an early setback to dominate proceedings.
Lakshya Sen lost the opening singles to Victor Lai 21-18, 19-21, 10-21, despite taking the first game and pushing the second to the wire.
India levelled through the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who outclassed Jonathan Lai/Kevin Lee 21-10, 21-11.
Ayush Shetty then put India ahead with a solid 21-13, 21-17 win over Brian Yang, according to olympics.com.
The second doubles combination of Hariharan Amsakarunan/MR Arjun sealed the tie comfortably, beating Ty Alexander Lindeman/Nyl Yakura 21-7, 21-15.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth completed the rout with a 21-17, 21-12 victory over Joshua Nguyen.
India will next face Australia in their second Group A match.
In the Uber Cup, India were edged out by Denmark 3-2 in a closely fought tie.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu gave India the lead, defeating Line Christophersen 21-13, 18-21, 21-17.
Denmark equalised as Line Kjærsfeldt beat Unnati Hooda 21-12, 25-23.
The Danish pair Amalie Cecilie Kudsk/Mette Werge then won a thriller against Shruti Mishra/Priya Konjengbam 21-17, 11-21, 23-21 to go 2-1 up.
Denmark sealed the tie when Amalie Schulz overcame Tanvi Sharma 21-19, 16-21, 21-16.
In the final match, Sindhu teamed up with Tanisha Crasto to beat Alexandra Bøje/Christine Busch after retirement, with the score reading 19-21, 17-14 (retired).
India’s women will next face Ukraine in their upcoming Group A fixture.
