Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and two top doubles pairs have opted out of the Uber Cup, but a strong men’s team will defend their title in the Thomas Cup starting in Chengdu from April 27. Sindhu has played six matches since her return to the Asian Badminton Team Championships in February, having withdrawn from the event to give herself more time to recover and prepare for the Paris Olympics.

Top women’s doubles pair Theresa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand, Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Krasto also pulled out of the tournament as it was not a team in Sindhu’s absence Complete team. They chose to focus on other tasks and try to qualify for the Olympics.

After Sindhu and the duo pulled out, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) decided to reward players who performed well in the senior national championships by giving them Team India caps.

BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra told PTI: “Sindhu chose to withdraw as she was just recovering from an injury and she wanted to give herself enough time to prepare for the Paris Olympics. She wanted to win another victory for the country. A medal.”

“The doubles pairs also decided to skip the tournament as they too played a lot of matches and wanted to focus on their qualifications, so we rewarded the semi-finalists of the national championship by including them in the team.” India are the reigning Thomas Cup champions , captured the epic crown in 2022. The selectors decided to field a strong squad with a perfect mix of youth and experience.

The Indian men’s team defeated the powerful Indonesian team 3-0 in the final and won the Thomas Cup for the first time, creating history for the Thai team.

The senior selection committee also decided to have more options in the singles, given the tight schedule for all players this season.

The 10-man Thomas Cup team will have five singles players, with Kiran George joining HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and Priyanshu Rajawat, while Sai Pratheek will serve as the backup doubles player for the two preferred pairings, known as the World Pairs. The first pair were Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila.

The final decision on the Thomas Cup squad was taken after an online meeting of the selection committee, which comprised national team chief coach Preela Gopichand, former India star U Vimal Kumar, Jawara Gul Tower, Manjusha Kanwal, Patto Ganguly and Mallika Barua Sarma.

“The committee felt we needed an extra player in singles and in doubles they picked the top two and Sai Pratik was chosen as an extra in consultation with Matthias Bo (Danish doubles coach) doubles players, just in case someone doesn’t participate. Fully fit or needs to recover,” Mishra said.

For the Uber Cup, the selectors decided to give youngsters a chance after the top players in singles and doubles withdrew.

17-year-old Anmol Kalab is India’s rising badminton star and will be closely watched on the big stage as she pairs up with Ashmita Chalihar and Tanvi Sharma in the singles.

“The young and talented players in the Uber Cup team are looking good too. I wish them good luck and hope they perform to make the country proud.” Thomas Cup line-up: (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 Lineup: (Singles) Anmol Kharb, Tanvi Sharma, Ashmita Chaliha and Isharani Baruah; (Doubles) Shruti Mishra, Priya Konjengbam , Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker.

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