Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu to lead India's badminton charge in CWG 2018

Kidambi Srikanth

India's highest ranked men's singles player Kidambi Srikanth and Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will spearhead the country's challenge in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which is slated to be held in Gold Coast, Australia from April 4.

In the women's singles event, Sindhu and Nehwal will shuffle roles as the team will pin high hopes in the singles event. Meanwhile, the mixed team event will see world number three Srikanth leading India's challenge down under, with World No. 11 H.S Prannoy supporting his compatriot up in the men's singles event. The Indian duo of Chirag Shetty and Saiwik Sairaj will look to put up their absolute best in their debut campaign at the Commonwealth Games, while Pranaav Jerry Chopra will join forces with Sikki Reddy in the mixed doubles event.

In the women's doubles, the Indian duo of Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponappa will look to continue their good show as Ashwini will aim to emulate her 2010 gold medal winning performance with her new partner. 'I feel we have strong chance to win the competition this year as our players have surged through the rankings and will give it their best shot at this prestigious event to bring laurels for the country,' Anup Narang, General Secretary of Badminton Association of India (BAI) said after the selection committee meeting from Kolkata. India have been drawn in Group A against neighbours Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Europe's Scotland, which arguably makes it tough for them to progress to the knockout phase of the tournament.

After the winners in the mixed team event are decided by April 9, all players will head into their respective individual events from April 10 and will aim to make a podium finish on April 14 and 15. 'It was tough to choose these players but after a long discussion we have chosen the ten best players to compete in the Commonwealth Games and we are positive that they will make the country proud,' Anup Narang, General Secretary of BAI further explained.

The entire team list is as follows:

Men: Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Chirag Shetty, Satwik Sairaj, Pranaav Jerry Chopra.

Women: P.V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Ashwini Ponappa, Sikki Reddy, Ruthvika Shivani Gaade.

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