Saina Nehwal, Sai Praneeth to Lead Indian Squad at Thomas and Uber Cup 2021 Finals; PV Sindhu Set to Miss Tournament


Saina Nehwal, Sai Praneeth to Lead Indian Squad at Thomas and Uber Cup 2021 Finals; PV Sindhu Set to Miss Tournament

Saina Nehwal

Ace shuttles Saina Nehwal and Sai Praneeth are all set to lead the Indian squad in the finals of the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals scheduled between 9th and 17th October. The Badminton Association of India also announced a 12 member squad for the Sudirman Cup which is set to take place from 26th September.

ADVERTISEMENT

The squads for both the tournaments were decided based on recently concluded national trials and performance. There was also automatic selection for all players who were ranked within the top 20 in the world.

For the Thomas and Uber Cup, London Olympics Medallist Saina Nehwal will take the lead on the women’s side, and along with her will be the 3 top ranked shuttlers. Making the cut at the selection trials were Malvika Bansod, Aditi Bhatt, and Tasnim Mir.

The women’s doubles will see Tanisha Crasto and Rutuparna Panda, who took the top spot at the trials. Along with them will be P. Gayatri and Treesa Jolly as well as Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, who will round off the 10 woman squad going to the tournament. PV Sindhu has opted out of the tournament citing post Olympic recovery. 

ADVERTISEMENT

The women’s team has been drawn in Group B along with Thailand, Spain, and Scotland in the Thomas and Uber Cup

Thomas and Uber Cup: Men’s Squad will be Lead by Sai Praneeth; Will feature Former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth

Tokyo Olympics Badminton Draws: B Sai Praneeth
B Sai Praneeth

Sai Praneeth will be taking the lead as a part of the men’s squad, and alonside him will be former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth. The top 2 singles players from the trials, Kiran George and Sameer Verma have secured their place in the team.

The country’s top ranked doubles pair, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will feature in the tournament. The pairs of Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun as well as G. Krishna Prasad and Vishnu Vardhan will also be a part of the squad as the top ranking pair in the trials. 

The Indian men’s team are clubbed alongside defending champions China along with Netherlands and Tahiti in Group C.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Other than the top-ranked Indians, we have selected players on the basis of their consistent show in the trials. In the absence of any tournaments, the trials and the new format helped us to zero in on the current in-form players as they have proved their abilities and have earned top rankings in the trials,” BAI general secretary Ajay Singhania said to TOI.

Also read: History Scripted, Records Broken and One Proud Nation- Summing Up India’s Spectacular Performance at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics