India's team is stronger now than it has ever been. (Picture Credit: Badminton Photo) Will Shi, won’t Shi? Shi Yuqi, the world No 1 by a distance, reportedly suffered acute gastroenteritis on Sunday night and withdrew from China’s tie against Canada. Whether he shows up to face India at Horsens, Denmark on Wednesday is the first question hanging over this group tie. If he doesn’t, Li Shifeng, Weng Hong Yang and Lu Guangzu could line up. If he does — well, that is a different problem entirely. But here is the larger truth, the one that has sat over Indian badminton for two decades: India have never beaten China at a Thomas Cup. Not once. “While India is getting closer to beating them, on paper, the Chinese are always ranked way higher. So beating them would be incredible, but it’s not a given by rankings,” says Parupalli Kashyap, a former Thomas Cupper and now a coach. “Having said that, maybe some of our players will say, ‘It’s high time we beat China’ and will be charged up.…