3 min readUpdated: Apr 30, 2026 03:56 PM IST
Of all the possibilities in the world, Chinese Taipei had to walk into India’s path at the Thomas Cup. With strong singles and a favourable matchup to stop Ayush Shetty through No 8 Lin Chun-Yi, Taiwan can be a formidable foe for India as they seek to progress from the quarters upwards. However, injury worries have dogged the Taiwanese too.
India had lost in both MS1 and MD1 four years ago to Taiwan, on thecway to the Thomas Cup title they won. As such, that group tie was a catalyst to the triumph back in 2022. It is a much sturdier Taiwan now, with depth in men’s singles.
World No 4 Chou Tien Chen, Lin Chun-Yi and Chi Yu-Jen played in the 3-2 win against Denmark, but Tien Chen and the new Asian Championships gold medallist Lin Chun-Yi lost their singles ties. Chun-Yi went down to Magnus Johannesen 17-21, 21-16, 21-19, but had defeated Ayush easily at Ningbo BAC. With injury concerns for the Taiwanese, Ayush can fancy his chances in a rematch at Horsens.
Chou Tien Chen went down to Anders Antonsen in the group game. However, Tien Chen and Lakshya Sen are 4-4 apiece in head to heads, the Indian having won both their last faceoffs in 2025. Sen has famously defeated Tien Chen at the Olympics and at All England, but had lost his MS1 in 2022 Thomas Cup.
Their first doubles Chiu Hsian Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin were good enough against Denmark, while the second doubles of Liu Kuang Heng and Yang Po Hsuan, had picked a point too in the 3-2 win.
The problem for India is Taiwan have Lee Chia Hao, a strong singles player, waiting in reserves, to shuffle their matchups. So if Taiwan decide to promote Lin Chun-Yi to first singles, given their 5-0 history in favour of Taiwanese, on the fast courts at Horsens, Sen could be in considerable trouble.
Kiran George is 2-0 against World No 21 Chi Yu-Jen, while Prannoy too has beaten the third singles player. Srikanth is 2-2 against Lee Chia Hao, having won last two times. Kiran George is 3-3 too, but has lost the last two times.
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Prannoy’s experience after the China MS3 win can come in handy, but India have a headache in picking their third singles.
Satwik-Chirag have a score to settle from last time, and finishing problems to deal with, and will need to pull 1 point for India to advance, for this isn’t a Triple-singles Play, like usual.
Quarterfinals:
- China vs Malaysia
- Thailand vs Denmark
- France vs Japan
- India vs Chinese Taipei
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