An elated Indian coach Vimal Kumar said he always knew that the Indian women's team had the firepower to upset Thailand in the Uber Cup badminton Asian Zone qualifiers.
"Yes, Thailand was strong but we fancied our chances. They have capitulated under pressure before. We had lost to them 0-3 in our last meeting," Vimal Kumar said after India pulled off a sensational 3-2 victory over Thailand in Jaipur on Wednesday.
"We were expecting seasoned Aparna Popat and Saina to win their games but the pleasant surprise came through Meenakshi B R and Aparna Balan. Both combined well, especially Balan, came out very strong. I am more happy because they were playing as a doubles combination at the international level for the first time," Vimal added.
"I was a little worried that Popat has not played for some time but she gave us a rousing start. Aparna Balan and Meenakshi turned the tide in our favour. Then it was left to Saina to finish it off," he said.
He, however, said the Indians would have to carry forward the good start.
"Our task is not finished yet. We still have to play tough matches. I thought we had only 30-70 chance against Thailand but I rate them as 60-40 in our favour against Singapore," he added.
Meenakshi and Balan, who fought back to clinch the crucial second match doubles match to level the scores at 2-2, gave all the credit to the coach.
"We had been tipped to keep the shuttle in the game. We were patient and forced them into making errors. We lost the first game but then attacked weaker of the two, Sujitra, and the ploy worked in our favour," Meenakshi said.
