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The Commonwealth Games will begin in a few days from now and the whole nation will get behind Indian athletes as they try to better their Delhi games performance four years ago. India finished second on the points table in 2010 behind Australia with 38 gold medals. The Indian shuttlers won 4 medals at the games. The Indian badminton team is high on confidence after their recent performances. Let us look at medal prospects for India.
#7 Ashwini Ponnappa and Kona Tarun
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The mixed doubles pair of Ashwini & Kona are currently ranked No. 39 in the world. They will look to improve upon their ranking come the Commonwealth Games.
Recent form:
Indonesian Open: Lost to Peter Kaesbauer & Isabel Hertrich 19-21,21-14,21-19 in the first round.
Singapore Open: Lost to Danny Bawa Chrisnanta & Yu Yan Vanessa Neo 21-15,21-10 in the first round.
Japan Open: Lost to Kenichi Hayakawa & Misaki Matsutomo 21-17,21-11 in the second round.
It will be interesting to see if they can turn around their bad string of results into winning ones in Glasgow.
#6 Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy
Manu and Sumeeth will carry India’s hopes in the Men’s doubles. They are ranked 44 in the world.
Recent form:
Srilanka Open International Badminton Challenge : Lost to Danny Bawa Chrisnanta & Chayut Triyachart 21-17,21-19 in the final.
Australian Open Super Series: Lost to Haifeng Fu & Nan Zhang 21-17, 21-11 in the first round.
Thomas Cup: Lost all their matches in the group stage.
The pair should show considerable improvement in their form to have any chances of getting a medal.
#5 K. Srikanth
Srikanth had a good beginning to his career as he won bronze in a national competition in 2012. He won the Maldives International in the same year.
He backed that up by winning the Thailand Open in 2013 and reached the final of the 2014 Indian Grand Prix. He lost to Xue Song in the final.
His current world ranking is 29.
Recent form:
Japan Open: Lost to Germany’s Mark Zwiebler 18-21,21-13,21-8 in the first round.
Indonesian Open: Lost to China’s Chen Yeukun 21-12, 17-21, 21-16 in the first round.
Thomas Cup: Beat Germany’s Mark Zwiebler 21-18,18-21,21-18. India went on to win their Group C match against Germany 3-2.
The 21-year old has a great chance of grabbing a medal for India!
#4 Ashwini Ponnappa&Jwala Gutta
The doubles pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa & Jwala Gutta won gold in the last edition of the Commonwealth games. They went onto win bronze at the 2011 World Championships in London. They are currently ranked 21 in the world.
Their inconsistent form off-late is definitely a cause for concern.
Japan Open: Second round.
Indonesian Open: Second round. Their recent success came at the Uber Cup when they claimed bronze.
The formidable Indian pair will have to regain form to strike gold!
#3 Parupalli Kashyap
Parupalli Kashyap was impressive at the national level as he won gold for Andhra Pradesh at the 33rd National games in 2006. His first big win on the international stage was at the 2010 Delhi games where he won the bronze medal.
In the 2012 London Olympics, he lost to top seed Lee Chong Wei in the quarterfinals, becoming the only Indian male player to reach thus far.
He is currently ranked 20th in the world.
Recent form:
Japan Open : First round.
Indonesian Open: First round.
He did win against Korea’s Dong Keun Lee in the Thomas Cup earlier this year.
His match temperament and the ability to win under pressure will be tested at the Games.
#2 P V Sindhu
P V Sindhu has made giant leaps in her short career so far. She was a consistent performer right from the junior stages as she made it to semifinals at major events.
Her first big victory came at the 2013 Malaysian Open Grand Prix where she won gold. This was her first Grand Prix title. She beat Wang Shixian 21-18, 21 - 17 to become India's first medalist in women's singles at the World Championships.
The Hyderabad girl also won the Macau Open Gold Grand Prix title in straight games 21-15, 21-12 against Canadian Michelle Li. She was awarded the Arjuna award by the Government of India.
Her current World ranking is 10.
Recent form:
She did well in the Uber Cup winning her singles match against Japan in the semifinals. India lost despite being 2-0 up in the 5-match series.
Indonesian Open: First round loss against China’s Yihan Wang 26-24, 21-17.
Australian Open Super Series: She lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual runner-up Carolina Marin 21-17 ,21-17.
Her form in the Commonwealth Games will be crucial for India.
#1 Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal won gold at the 2010 games in Delhi. Her win enabled India to the second spot on the medals edging England who finished with 37 gold medals. She also won the Hong Kong Super Series and the Indonesian Super Series that year.
Her best victory however came in the 2012 London Olympics as she claimed the bronze medal against Wang Xin of China.
She won the Swiss Open Grand Prix gold twice in 2011 & 2012. Her good run of form continued in 2012 as she won the Thailand Open Grand Prix gold and the Indonesia Super Series Premier. She was awarded Padmashri from the Government of India in 2010.
Saina is currently ranked No. 8 in the world.
Recent form:
Uber Cup: Beat Japan’s Minatsu Mitani in the semis 21-12, 21-13 and ensured India a bronze medal.
Indonesian Open: Lost in the quarterfinals to No. 1 seed Li Xuerui 22-20,21-15.
Australian Open Super Series: Won the title beating Spaniard Carolina Marin 21-18,21-11 in the final.
She will have to be at the top of her game for India to clinch a gold in badminton.
