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The Badminton Association of India has announced the squads for the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup tournaments on April 4. Both competitions will be played in Chengdu, China from April 27 to May 5 . The squad was decided after an online meeting of the selection committee comprising Chief National coach Pulella Gopichand, former India veterans U. Vimal Kumar, Jwala Gutta, Manjusha Kanwar, Partho Ganguly and Mallika Baruah Sarma.
Talking about the 2024 squads, the Thomas Cup will see the likes of H. S. Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and Priyanshu Rajawat represent India in the singles. Whereas, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will be the doubles' combinations with Sai Pratheek as the backup. For the Uber Cup, youngsters like Anmol Kharb, Tanvi Sharma and others were given preference, with P. V. Sindhu opting out to prepare for the Paris Olympics.
India's squads for Thomas Cup and Uber Cup 2024
Thomas Cup squad:
(Singles) HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Priyanshu Rajawat and Kiran George; (Doubles) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, MR Arjun, Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek.
Uber Cup squad:
(Singles) Anmol Kharb, Tanvi Sharma, Ashmita Chaliha and Isharani Baruah; (Doubles) Shruti Mishra, Priya Konjengbam, Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker.
Speaking about the squads for both events, the General Secretary of BAI, Sanjay Mishra said, “The committee felt we needed to have one additional player in the singles while in doubles they have picked top two pairs and Sai Pratheek is selected as an additional doubles player after consultation with Mathias Boe (Danish doubles coach) just in case somebody is not fully fit or needs recovery.”
In 2022, the Indian women's team exited Uber Cup 2022 after losing the quarter-final fixture against host team Thailand by 0-3. On the other hand, the Indian men's team created history by defeating the 14-time winners Indonesia in the final of the Thomas Cup in Bangkok to lift the title defeating the defending champions by 3-0.
