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NEW DELHI, APR 19

(IANS): World No. 9 HS

Prannoy and two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will lead the team while Lakshya Sen has been included as a reserve as India on Wednesday announced their squad for the Sudirman Cup 2023, scheduled to take place from May 14 to 21 in Suzhou, China.

The return of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who missed the Asian Mixed Team event due to injury, will bolster the men’s doubles squad, which also have the likes of Dhruv Kapila & MR Arjun.

On the other hand, the experienced Ashwini Ponnappa and new partner Tanisha Castro will provide back up to the All England semi-finalists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly in the women’s doubles.

After Prannoy and Sindhu, experienced Kidambi Srikanth and reigning senior national women’s singles champion Anupama Upadhyaya will be the other singles players in the squad while Aakarshi Kashyap is the second reserve after Lakshya. The likes of Sai Pratheek and Tanisha Crasto have been named as the mixed doubles pair in the squad. India have been grouped in Group C along with Malaysia, Chinese Taipei and Australia and their first task will be to make it to the knock-out stage from a potentially tricky group.

“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 (BAI) secretary Sanjay Mishra, in a media release.

Indian squad:

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