Tough draw for India in Sudirman Cup Mixed Team Badminton Championships

India have been handed a tough draw for the BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2021 slated to be held in Vantaa, Finland from September 26 to October 3.

India have been drawn with defending champions China, three-time semi-finalists Thailand and hosts Finland in Group A for the Sudirman Cup.

India and Finland have been seeded in the 9-16 bracket in the 16-team Sudirman Cup tournament. Holders China, who have won the Sudirman Cup a record 11 times in its 16 editions, are the top seeds while Thailand are in the 5-8 bracket.

Japan, runners-up in the previous edition in 2019, are the second seeds in the Sudirman Cup and are placed in Group D with eighth seeds Malaysia, England and Egypt. With World No. 1 Kento Momota-led Japan expected to start as the overwhelming favorites, Malaysia must beat England at all costs to avoid going home early.

Only the top two teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the quarter-finals. There are five matches in a Sudirman Cup tie, which include men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Sudirman Cup draw released on Wednesday

Sindhu, Saina, Sai Praneeth among Indians selected for Sudirman Cup on the basis of world rankings

The Indian team for the Sudirman Cup and the subsequent Thomas and Uber Cup will be picked after selection trials scheduled to be held in Hyderabad later this week. The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has called on more than a hundred players for the trials, which will get underway at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy on August 28.

PV Sindhu (World No. 7), Saina Nehwal (World No. 19), B Sai Praneeth (World No. 15), and Kidambi Srikanth (World No. 14) have been selected on the basis of their impressive world rankings. The men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (World No. 10) have also been selected directly for the Sudirman Cup and the Thomas and Uber Cup.

Kidambi Srikanth (L) and Saina Nehwal

Sudirman Cup Draw

Group A: China, Thailand, Finland, India

Group B: Taiwan, South Korea, Tahiti, Germany

Group C: Indonesia, Denmark, Russia, Canada

Group D: Japan, Malaysia, England, Egypt.