80 players to compete in selection trials for Sudirman Cup, Thomas and Uber Cup from Saturday

Eighty players will compete in the selection trials for the Sudirman Cup as well as Thomas and Uber Cup in Hyderabad from August 28. The four-day trial, conducted by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), will get underway from Saturday.

The much-awaited trials will be held at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad. The trials will be held on a league-cum-knock-out basis.

The BAI released a list of 105 players on Monday, which included 25 players for men’s singles and 18 players for the women’s singles.

However, according to the final list, only 80 players have sent their entries for the trials, while 25 players did not confirm their entries which closed on Friday evening. Twenty players in the men’s singles have been divided into eight groups. Only the group topper will enter the knock-out stage.

Fourteen players will be in the fray in the women’s singles for the trials. They are divided into four groups. The top two players from each group will enter the quarter-finals.

Thirty players in the men’s doubles and a maximum of 32 players have been called in for the women’s doubles trials.

However, several players opted out of the trials. There are currently 13 pairs in the men’s doubles and 10 pairs in the women’s doubles.

The ten women’s doubles have been divided into two groups of five teams each. The top three pairs from each group will enter the knock-outs.

Thirteen teams in the men’s doubles have been divided into four groups. The top two pairs from each group will enter the quarter-finals.

The prestigious Sudirman Cup Mixed Team Championship will be held from September 26 to October 3 in Vantaa, Finland. The Thomas and Uber Cup will be played from October 9 to 17 at Aarhus in Denmark a week after the Sudirman Cup,

Gayatri Gopichand’s inclusion in women's doubles raises eyebrows ahead of trials

Gayatri Gopichand’s name was in the women’s singles when the BAI released their list of players on Monday. The talented teenager Gayatri was among the 18 players listed in the women’s singles.

However, when the draw was released on Friday evening, Gayatri’s name was found in the women’s doubles with Treesa Jolly of Kerala. The Telangana teenager is in Group A along with four other duos.

A source, on the promise of anonymity, said:

“Gayatri has a remarkable record in the singles but she has no rankings and no past performance in the women’s doubles on the national or international circuit. When she was slated to compete in the women’s singles, how could her name suddenly appear in the women’s doubles."

"Only because she is the daughter of chief national coach Pullela Gopichand can she shift from singles to doubles at the last moment. BAI have clearly mentioned in the original list that only selected players will be eligible to play in their respective events. But this is clearly an exploitation of powers."

Eighteen-year-old Gayatri has been performing brilliantly in the Under-19 girls singles as well as women’s singles in the last 3-4 years.

Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly will be part of the five-team Group A in the women's doubles trials

Another source added:

“The BAI short-listed the players for the selection trials on the basis of their national and international rankings. There is no doubt that Gayatri is a proven performer in the singles but at the same time one must admit that she has no rankings or past performance in the doubles. She has never played in any tournament with Treesa Jolly."

"How can BAI allow the new pair to compete in the selection trials for such important upcoming tournaments? It is certainly unfair to other senior doubles players who have better rankings and good past records against their names."

LIST OF PLAYERS FOR SELECTION TRIALS

Men’s singles

Group A

Lakshya Sen (top seed)

Sai Charan Koya

Group B

C Rahul Yadav

Siddharth Pratap Singh

Varun Kapur

Group C

HS Prannoy (third seed)

Alap Mishra

Group D

Kartikey Gulshan Kumar

Kiran George

Sankar Muthusami S

Group E

Ansal Yadav

Mithun Manjunath

Priyanshu Rajawat

Group F

Subhankar Dey (fourth seed)

Chirag Sen

Group G

Ajay Jayaram

Siddharth Thakur

Aryaman Tandon

Group H

Sameer Verma (second seed)

Satish Kumar

Women’s singles

Group A

Aakarshi Kashyap

Aditi Bhatt

Riya Mukharjee

Group B

Malvika Bansod

Ashmita Chaliha

Kanika Kanwal

Group C

Ira Sharma

Mugdha Agrey

Shruti Mundada

Unnati Bisht

Group D

Vaidehi Choudhary

Purva Barve

Samiya Imad Farooqui

Tasnim Mir

Men’s doubles

Group A

Summeth Reddy-Manu Attri

Vighnesh Devlekar-Deep Rambhiya

Arun George-Sanyam Shukla

Group B

Krishna Prasad Garaga-Vishnu Vardhan Goud

Ishaan Bhatnagar-Pratheek Sai

Vasantha Kumar HR-Ashith Surya

Group C

Dhruv Kapila-MR Arjun

M Khwairakpam-D Konthoujam

Anjan Buragohain-Ranjan Buragohain

Group D

Edwin Joy-Sankarprasad Udaykumar

Yash Raikwar-Iman Sonowal

Utkarsh Arora-Saurabh Sharma

Navaneeth Bokka-Sri Krishna Sai Kumar Podile

Women’s doubles

Group A

Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy

Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela

Tanisha Crasto-Rutuparna Panda

Kavya Gandhi-Khushi Gupta

V Harika-Akshaya Warang

Group B

K Ashwini Bhat-Shikha Gautam

Sahithi Bandi-Shruti Mishra

Pooja Dandu-Kuhoo Garg

K Maneesha-Sanjana Santosh

Ramya Tulasi BV-Shivani Santosh Singh.