India
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After grabbing a historic bronze in the last edition at New Delhi, India would be looking for every opportunity to go close. India’s singles contingent is definitely the more dependable brigade, especially because the country’s two top shuttlers will be in action.
After recovering from an ankle injury, the eighth-ranked Saina Nehwal has been showing signs of being back at her best form as evidenced by her semi-final appearances at the India Open, Malaysia Open and the Badminton Asia Championships. At the India Open, she was even close to toppling Li Xuerui and that should encourage her to step up further when the going gets tough.
PV Sindhu, ranked 10th, is another indispensable member of the team. She started the season with a title at the Malaysia Masters and since then has gone a bit off the boil. But if the 20-year-old two-time World Championships bronze medallist can hold her nerves, she can beat the very best in the game like she has proved many a time.
India are in the same group as Japan and that might be a tall order for the doubles teams given how competent Japan’s doubles pairs are. But Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa are veterans and are certainly capable of producing upsets on their day.
