BWF World Championships Preview: Saina, Kidambi to lead the Indian contingent

PV Sindhu will be a major miss for the Indian side at the World Championships.

Indian shuttlers will look to continue their golden run at the upcoming BWF World Championships in Tokyo on 22nd August 2022. The shuttlers had an astounding run at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and bagged six medals. They clinched three gold medals, two bronze and silver. PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won gold in their respective events, whereas Kidambi Shrikanth and the pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bagged bronze. The Indian team won a silver medal in the mixed team event.

A 26-strong contingent will be participating for India at the BWF World Championships. India has bagged 12 medals at the World Badminton Championships, but the only gold came in 2019 through PV Sindhu.

All the medalists from Commonwealth Games 2022 except PV Sindhu will be participating in World Championships. Sindhu had to pull off due to an injury to her left foot.

Saina makes a comeback after missing Commonwealth Games 2022

The Indian challenge in the women’s singles will be led by the former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal with the young shuttler Malvika Bansod, who will try to leave her mark in world badminton.

Saina Nehwal will be up against Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi in the Round of 64 and she may face World No. 6 Nozomi Okukhara of Japan early in the tournament. While Malvika will meet Danish World No. 21 Line Christophersen.

Three men in one group diminish the chance of multiple medals

The Indian contingent has a long list of men’s singles participants competing in the World Championships, but the three ace shuttlers have been kept in the same group, which will result in only one of them reaching the semi-finals. The three shuttlers - Kidambi Shrikanth (13), Lakshya Sen (10) and HS Prannoy (18) are in the same group. Shrikanth and Sen were also the silver and bronze medalists at the previous World Championships.

Other than these three shuttlers, B. Sai Praneeth is in the other group where he will be competing against the current World No. 4 Chou Tien Chen from Chinese Taipei. There could also be a possibility for H.S Prannoy to face Lakshya Sen if both clear their first round.

Commonwealth Games golden pair will aim high

Apart from four men in the men’s singles, the Indian contingent have four men’s pairs in their lineup. Beginning with the Commonwealth gold medalist Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty followed by Manu Attri/B. Sumeeth Reddy, Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjula and M R Arjun/Dhruv Kapila.

Just like the men’s doubles, the Indian contingent has four women’s pairs in the lineup. India’s top medal expectations are from Treesa Jolly / Gayatri Gopichand, the pair who won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. The immensely experienced Ashwini Ponappa/N Sikki Reddy. Other than them Pooja Dandu/Sanjana Santosh and Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam will be presenting their challenge against the top players around the world.

The Indian side will also present competition in the mixed doubles event where two pairs will be seen in action. The pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto and Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan will show their skills on the big stage of the BWF World Championships.

India will look to take advantage of their good form and enhance their history at the tournament. Sindhu’s pullout was damaging to the expectations, but the other ace Indian shuttlers will definitely show their skills and increase the number of medals for India at this World Championships 2022.