Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy will look to push India as further into the competition as possible. (PTI Photo)
A hugely depleted squad will head to the Thomas & Uber Cup in Bangkok with K Srikanth and PV Sindhu rested for the prestigious team event. The top doubles pairings of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and Sikki Reddy-Ashwini Ponappa will also miss action owing to exams and illness, though Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy will look to push India as further into the competition as possible.
India’s second string comprising Lakshya Sen (World Jr rank 4), Vaishnavi Jaka Reddy (World Jr rank 5), Sai Krishna Priya (Sr world rank 66) as well as well as domestic performers, the tall Anura Prabhu Desai and Vaishnavi Bhale ( India nos. 1 & 2) will get a taste of top-flight badminton to test their mettle against the best in the world.
2018 was always going to be a year of picking and choosing tournaments with a packed calendar, and Sindhu and Srikanth seem to have prioritised the World’s and Asian Games later in the year, over the Thomas Uber Cup.
India’s Uber Cup chances were struck a blow when doubles specialists Sikki Reddy went down with typhoid. Nehwal has been in scorching form, but Sindhu who has been on the road since last November, was given a break to get over the niggles. She made the finals of the Super Series Finals as well as CWG, but looking at the targeted competitions ahead – notably the Asiad where she will be expected to have a go at winning the toughest title of the year – it was expected that she would be granted the rest needed.
In the absence of Srikanth, India still has HS Prannoy in fine touch, and Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma as well as Lakshya Sen for their group battles. Fast rising Shlok Ramachandran and MR Arjun, plus seasoned pair Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy have the opportunity to make a mark, as India take on formidable China in the pool, hoping to advance to the knockouts.
While many have spoken of India’s increasing depth in badminton, the TUC will throw light on just how close is the second rung to the top grade shuttlers. The women’s team has been drawn in Group A against contenders Japan, Canada and Australia. In Thomas Cup, the Indian men face China, France and Australia in Group A. While India had qualified both women’s and men’s squads on the basis of ranking, the back to back tournaments this year – all important – were bound to test the star shuttlers.
However, with temperate expectations, this meet offers the Indians a chance to look beyond the frontliners. Any surprise wins at this level can catapult careers into the next gear, while Prannoy, Sai Praneeth and Nehwal will relish the opportunity to prop up their confidence.
Sindhu had suffered an ankle sprain ahead of the CWG and looked like she was tapering off peak intensity, though she picked silver behind Nehwal at the Gold Coast. She has played almost every tournament the last six months, and was due this break. Srikanth too had hinted at missing a few meets while focussing on the biggies later.
The TUC though a prestigious tournament, is still one step too far for Indians to realistically target the medals. Powerhouses China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Denmark and even hosts Thailand can pose a challenge based on their larger numbers. For the youngsters from India, this will be a good chance to prove India’s pool goes deeper than the existing headline makers.