Chirag Shetty shares glimpse of team's WhatsApp chat group before historic Thomas Cup win

Indian shuttler Chirag Shetty has shared a glimpse of the famous WhatsApp group that his team had created before their Thomas Cup campaign began late last month. Shetty took to Twitter to share a screenshot of the group, which was created by senior player HS Prannoy. The group called 'It's coming home' first came to the light after another Indian player Kidambi Srikanth mentioned it following India's historic win at the Thomas Cup.  

"30/04/2022 we made the group. 15/05/2022 we actually got it home. Name of the group 👉🏻 “It’s coming home TUC”. P.S It’s an actual SS of our chat! #thomascup," Shetty wrote on Twitter. 

Earlier, Kidambi Srikanth had attributed the team's success to the WhatsApp group that was created before the tournament began late last month. Srikanth, while speaking to BWF, said the entire squad believed they could win the tournament, and hence they had named the group, 'It's coming home'. Srikanth also talked about the group while speaking to Republic TV on Monday. The 29-year-old said they had named the group 'It's coming home' in order to instill belief in players that they are capable of winning the competition.

"We named that group "It's coming home" even before we came here in Thailand. It was only to tell all the other players that we can do it. It's just about us believing in ourselves and you know if we can really get on and play the best badminton possible, we can definitely do it. So it was just about telling them that we can really do it," Srikanth said.

Thomas Cup 2022

As far as India's performance in the Thomas Cup is concerned, the side reached the final after defeating Denmark 3-2 in the semis on Friday. HS Prannoy played a vital role in the semi-final as he helped India break the 2-2 tie by beating World No. 13 Rasmus Gemke 13-21 21-9 21-12 in the fifth and final set. India stormed into the final to play against 14-time champions Indonesia, who had reached the summit clash after defeating Japan in the semis. 

The final began with a clash between young Indian talent Lakshya Sen and World No. 5 Anthony Sinisuka. Lakshya helped India take an early lead when he beat Sinisuka 8-21 21-17 21-16. Doubles pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy then beat Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21 23-21 21-19 to help their side multiply their lead to 2-0. Kidambi then won his set against Christie to register the historic win for India. India beat Indonesia 3-0 in the final.  

Image: Olympics.com