BWF Sudirman Cup 2023: HS Prannoy, Srikanth & Sindhu to lead India as they are drawn with Malaysia, Chinese Taipei & Australia in Group C

The senior national selection committee followed the guidelines announced on January 3, 2023, to select a balanced squad with an aim to clinch a first-ever medal in the Mixed Team Championships. India are drawn with two heavyweights Malaysia and Chinese Taipei in Group C. The fourth team in India's group is Australia. HS Prannoy, PV Sindhu, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty will lead India at the Sudirman Cup Finals 2023. Suzhou will host the prestigious competition from May 14 to 21. Earlier this year, India clinched a bronze medal at the Asia Mixed Team Championships.

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Indian Team Selection:

According to the January circular on the BAI website, the committee members agreed that along with the BWF Ranking, the performance of players at the Senior National Championships and the recent performance of players at various international tournaments against top-world ranking players will also be considered to select the best pool of players to represent India. 

The Indian Team for the Sudirman Cup 2023 was selected on the basis of:

1. Indian players are among the Top-20 in the BWF Ranking as on 4th April 2023. 
2. Performance of the players in the 84th Senior National Badminton Championships.
3. The exceptional performance of players against the top world-ranking players in the last three months.

Indian men created history last year by winning the prestigious Thomas Cup. The hope of a potential podium finish was raised further following the bronze-winning performance in the Asian Mixed Team championships earlier this year. The return of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will boost the men's doubles squad while the experienced Ashwini Ponnappa and new partner Tanisha Castro will provide backup to the All-England semi-finalists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy missed the Asian Mixed Team event due to an injury. Kidambi Srikanth and reigning senior national women's singles champion Anupama Upadhyaya will be the other singles players in the squad.

Lakshya Sen, who has slid down the rankings to be India No 3 now, is the reserve in men's singles while Aakarshi Kashyap, who was runner-up to Upadhyaya at the Nationals in Pune is the reserve in women's singles.

"Sudirman Cup is a prestigious tournament and the selectors have picked the best squad after studying the domestic and international results. We are confident that this team will challenge for a medal this year," said Badminton Association of India secretary Sanjay Mishra.

Indian Team for the BWF Sudirman Cup 2023:

• Men's singles: HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth (Reserve: Lakshya Sen)
• Women's singles: PV Sindhu, Anupama Upadhyaya (Reserve: Aakarshi Kashyap)
• Men's doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila
• Women's doubles: Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly, Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto
• Mixed doubles: Tanisha Crasto/Sai Pratheek

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BWF Sudirman Cup 2023 Groups:

• Group A: China, Denmark, Singapore, Egypt
• Group B: Indonesia, Thailand, Germany, Canada 
• Group C: Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, India, Australia 
• Group D: Japan, Korea, France, England  

Here are the 16 teams with seeding and how they qualified:

• 1 – China (Asian Champions)
• 2 – Japan (Ranking)
• 3/4 – Indonesia (Ranking)
• 3/4 – Malaysia (Ranking)
• 5/8 – Thailand (Asian Semifinalists)
• 5/8 – Korea (Asian Semifinalists)
• 5/8 – Denmark (European Champions)
• 5/8 – Chinese Taipei (Ranking)
• 9/12 – India (Asian Semifinalists)
• 9/12 – Singapore (Ranking)
• 9/12 – Germany (European Semifinalists)
• 9/12 – France (European Semifinalists)
• 13/16 – Canada (Pan Am Champions)
• 13/16 – England (European Semifinalists)
• 13/16 – Australia (Oceania Champions)
• 13/16 – Egypt (African Champions)