Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and the top two doubles duos have opted out of the Uber Cup, but a strong men’s team will take to the field for the title defense in the Thomas Cup, starting from April 27 in Chengdu. Sindhu, who has played six tournaments since returning to action at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in February, withdrew from the event to give herself more time to recover and get ready for the Paris Olympics.
The top women’s doubles pairs – Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto – also withdrew as they are not a full-strength team and Sindhu is missing. They chose to focus on the other assignments in their pursuit of qualifying for the Olympic Games.
After the withdrawal of Sindhu and the two pairs, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) decided to reward the players who performed at the Senior National Championships by awarding them the India cap.
“Sindhu has opted out as she is coming back from injury and wants to give herself enough time to prepare for the Paris Games where she hopes to win another medal for the country,” BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra told PTI .
“The doubles pairs have also decided to skip the event as they too have played many tournaments and want to focus on their qualification. That is why we have rewarded the semi-finalists of the national championships by including them in the team.” India are the defending champions in the Thomas Cup and have captured the epic crown in 2022. The selectors decided to field a strong team with a perfect mix of youth and experience.
The Indian men’s team had created history in Thailand as they defeated the formidable Indonesia 3-0 in the final to clinch their first-ever Thomas Cup crown.
The senior selection committee also decided to have more options in singles considering the hectic schedule of all the players this season.
A 10-member team for the Thomas Cup will consist of five singles players, with Kiran George joining HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and Priyanshu Rajawat, while Sai Pratheek will be the backup doubles player for the two first-choice combinations , namely World No. 1 pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila.
The final decision on the Thomas Cup selection was taken after an online meeting of the selection committee comprising head national coach Pulella Gopichand, former India stars U Vimal Kumar, Jwala Gutta, Manjusha Kanwar, Partho Ganguly and Mallika Baruah Sarma.
“The committee felt that in singles we needed one extra player, while in doubles they picked the best two pairs and Sai Pratheek was selected as extra doubles player after consultation with Mathias Boe (Danish doubles coach), in case anyone that is not. is fully fit or needs recovery,” said Mishra.
For the Uber Cup, the selectors decided to give youngsters a chance after top players in both singles and doubles withdrew.
17-year-old Anmol Kharab, India’s newest badminton sensation, will be closely watched on the big stage where she has Ashmita Chaliha and Tanvi Sharma as her singles teammates.
“The Uber Cup team is also looking good with the young talented players. I wish them the best of luck and hope they will make the nation proud with their performances.” Thomas Cup Squad: (Singles) HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Priyanshu Rajawat and Kiran George; (doubles) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, MR Arjun, Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek Uber Cup squad: (singles) Anmol Kharb, Tanvi Sharma, Ashmita Chaliha and Isharani Baruah; (double) Shruti Mishra, Priya Konjengbam, Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker.
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