India, April 25 -- Lakshya Sen endured a tough loss, but Ayush Shetty and the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty registered wins as 2022 champions India notched up a commanding 4-1 win over Canada in their opening Group A tie of the Thomas Cup Finals on Friday.

After Lakshya's spirited effort ended in an 18-21, 21-19, 21-10 loss to world number 13 Victor Lai, world number 4 Satwik and Chirag levelled the tie with a dominant 21-10, 21-11 win over Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Kevin Lee.

The 20-year-old Ayush, runner-up at the recent Asia Championships, then outwitted world Number 33 Brian Yang 21-13, 21-17 in 39 minutes to hand India a 2-1 lead. The second doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and M R Arjun sealed the...