New Delhi: Saina Nehwal and current men’s World No.8 HS Prannoy will lead India’s charge at the upcoming edition of the BWF Thomas and Uber Cup, to be played, May 20 to 27 in Bangkok.
PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and doubles specialist Ashwini Ponappa have been rested for the tournament keeping in mind the hectic schedule they have to follow this season. Also all the three are suffering from minor injuries.
Other than Prannoy, the other members of the men’s team are B Sai Praneeth, Sameer Verma and Lakshay Sen. In the women’s contest, Saina will be accompanied by Vaishnavi Jakka Reddy, Sai Krishna Priya, Anura Prabhu and Vaishnavi Bhale in the singles competition of the Uber Cup.
The experienced duo of Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri along with World No 43, Shlok Ramachandran, MR Arjuna and the pair of Sanyam Shukla and Arun George will be responsible to drive India in the doubles category of the Thomas Cup.
J Meghana, Poorvisha Ram, Prajakta Sawant and Sanyogita Ghorpade will lead the challenge in the women’s doubles competition of Uber Cup.
“We have decided to give opportunity to young and aspiring talents along with our experienced players so that they not only gain valuable exposure they will also be have the experience to play alongside the top players,” Himanta Biswa Sarma, president of Badminton Association of India, said.
“While selecting the squad, we have considered the performance of the players at the domestic level and those who have excelled in the national circuit have been given the opportunity to show their talent at the highest level,” he added.
The continental tournament will see India taking on France in the opening rubber, followed by Australia and China in the Thomas Cup while the women’s team, a bronze medal winner in the last edition, will take on Canada in the first tie followed by Australia and Japan.