India’s squad for 2019 Sudirman Cup announced 

The Indian squad for the prestigious 2019 Sudirman Cup, to be played from 19th-26th May in Nanning, China, has been announced.

In the men’s singles section, the challenge will be led by Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma. The doubles charge will be led by Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy with the latter making a comeback from an injury. Sumeeth Reddy, Manu Attri and Pranav Chopra will represent India at the Sudirman Cup as well.

In the women’s section, while Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu will spearhead the challenge in singles, the pairs of Ashwini Ponnappa-Sikki Reddy and Poorvisha S Ram-J Meghana will be leading the doubles campaign at this prestigious tournament.

India have been placed along with China and Malaysia in Group D. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the knockout rounds. In the 2017 edition of the Sudirman Cup, India had reached the quarter-final stage.

The Indian team faces a tough challenge in the upcoming 2019 Sudirman Cup. They will take on the 10-times champions China and then Malaysia. In every round, the teams must play men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles. The fifth match would be mixed doubles.

With Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth in the Indian team, the chances of India winning in singles remain positive. The challenge for the Indian team remains in the doubles section.

That said, there is still a concern for the top singles shuttlers. Sindhu has not been in great form this year and Nehwal remains the only Indian out of them to win a tournament in 2019.

Kidambi Srikanth has been in decent form, reaching the final of the India Open. It will be interesting to see if India can produce a strong performance against top quality nations like China and Malaysia.

Men’s squad: Kidambi Srikanth, Sameer Verma, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Manu Attri, Sumeeth Reddy, Pranav Chopra

Women’s squad: PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Ashwini Ponnappa, Sikki Reddy, Poorvisha S Ram, J Meghana.