New Delhi, Apr 14: The next generation of Indian shuttlers will aim to secure their places in the national team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian games when the selection trials begin here on Friday.
The selection trials have attracted more attention after Saina Nehwal’s decision to skip the event to manage workload.
The trials will kick off at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Friday to pick the teams for the upcoming Thomas & Uber Cup, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
A total of 120 players will be participating in the five categories but not two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Saina, who questioned the governing body for the timing of the trials and also slammed it for “putting” her out of the major events.
The six-day long selection trials will see shuttlers ranked between 16 to 50 in the latest world rankings, released on March 29, fighting it out even as BAI gave direct entry to players in the top 15.
Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, and PV Sindhu alongside men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been named as the automatic selection, while HS Prannoy has also been picked due to his recent form which saw him reach the finals of Swiss Open Super 300.
“Prannoy’s name has also been included as all the selectors were of the unanimous view that he should be considered for direct selection as he has performed consistently at top events in the recent time and has beaten some top players,” Sanjay Mishra, General Secretary of BAI, said in a release.
With Saina making herself unavailable for the trials, it will be a golden opportunity for the likes of Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha, Akarshi Kashyap, Tasnim Mir and Anupama Upadhyaya to step up and get selected for the major events.
In doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy are the Commonwealth Games bronze medallists and are ranked world no 20 but the likes of Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand (ranked 36) have shown that their mettle with a semifinal finish at the All England Championships.
In men’s category, Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth, who is ranked world number 19, will look to regain some form and grab a seat in the Thomas Cup squad and Asian Games contingent.
Among others, Sameer Verma and his elder brother Sourabh, will also fancy their chances but they will face stiff resistance from the likes of Odisha Open winner Kiran George and Orleans Masters finalist Mithun Manjunath.
In doubles, the pairings of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapil, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, and Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala, who had a second place finish at Syed Modi International and quarterfinals at German Open Super 300 and Odisha Open Super 100, will fancy their chances.
The Commonwealth Games squad will consist of 10 members with equal number of men and women, while the Asian Games and Thomas and Uber Cup teams will have 20 members each, including 10 men and 10 women.
“For CWG, both men’s and women’s teams will consist of two singles players while the remaining three positions will be filled by two doubles and one mixed doubles player,” BAI said.
“In the Thomas & Uber Cup and Asian Games squads, one singles and two doubles positions are available in the men’s category while in the women’s section three singles and the same number of doubles positions are up for grabs.”
Thomas Cup and Uber Cup are scheduled in Bangkok from May 8 to 15, while Commonwealth Games and Asian Games are slated in Birmingham and Hangzhou, China, from July 28 and September 10 respectively.
The trials will be held in league-cum-round robin format to decide the positions.
“The seedings in the trials draw will be decided on the basis of international rankings followed by national rankings while combined individual ranking points given by BWF will be considered in doubles,” BAI said.
According to the format, “25 men’s singles players will be divided into eight groups as the Top-2 players will progress into the second stage where they will be divided into four groups.
“Winner of each group will play for 1 to 4 ranks in a round-robin format. Runners-up from each group will fight for 5-8 positions while third-placed players will aim for 9 to 12 positions.”
“Women’s singles will follow similar format with 19 players divided into six groups, five of three players each and one with four. Top-2 players will progress into the second stage and then four groups will be formed as they will fight for positions from 1-12 in a round-robin format.”
The men’s and women’s doubles will see participation of 13 and 11 pairs respectively, who will be divided into four groups.
“Top-2 pairs will then progress into the second stage and will be further divided into two groups before they will fight for eight positions in each category. Top-2 teams will play for positions 1 to 4 while bottom two teams will fight for positions 5 to 8.”
“In mixed doubles, 14 pairs will be divided into four groups and Top-2 from each group will move into the second stage where two groups will be formed before final round-robin stage in which Top-2 pairs from each group will fight for first four positions while bottom two teams will play for positions 5 to 8.” (PTI)
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