"Hope This Will Take Them To Next Level": Badminton Doubles Coach Mathias Boe On India's Thomas Cup Win

Talking to NDTV, India's doubles badminton coach Mathias Boe opened up on the historic Thomas Cup win and how it will help increase the confidence of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.

India's men's badminton team had to wait for the longest time to win a Thomas Cup title and this wait came to an end last Sunday, when the contingent defeated 14-time champions Indonesia to win a gold medal at the event for the very first time. In the final, Lakshya Sen, Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Kidambi Srikanth were at their best and India sealed the contest within the first three matches. Doubles coach Mathias Boe witnessed history from close quarters and in a conversation with NDTV, he opened up on his training methods and how this win will help Chirag and Satwik going ahead.

In the summit clash between India and Indonesia, India took a 1-0 lead after Lakshya Sen beat Indonesia's Anthony Ginting in the first match. After this, India further improved their lead to 2-0 after Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came from a game down to beat Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19. In the third match of the final, Kidambi Srikanth triumphed over Jonatan Christie and in the end, India went on to script history in front of a jam-packed crowd at Impact Arena in Bangkok.

"Well, obviously I am really thrilled. Extremely proud of the team and Indian badminton in general. Most people generally do not understand how difficult it is to win Thomas Cup, you need a team of 10 players, all at the same time, playing their absolute best and that is quite remarkable that it was possible and it shows how many good players are there in India now. To be a part of this team and be a coach of the team that has won Thomas Cup is something to be extremely proud of. I really love to win," Boe told NDTV.

"As an athlete, you always need confidence and you get that by playing well and winning. That is the most important thing. What can happen is when you have big wins like this, you can gain confidence and play better or you can just go party all day and then not get any better. My job is to help them stay focused and use this win in the most positive way so we can get more titles in the future. You grow as an athlete when you win so I hope this will take them to the next level also," he further stated.

Chirag and Satwik bowed out of the Tokyo Olympics last year in the group stage and this brought an end to Mathias' contract as India doubles coach. However, sometime after, he returned to coach the badminton side once again and he revealed what made him return to the court.