PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth lead gold hunt

Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu will headline India’s 21-member contingent as they play for the elusive gold medal at the World Badminton Championships starting tomorrow in Glasgow, Scotland.

Srikanth goes to the Worlds having won successive titles in Indonesia and Australia, while Sindhu, who won the 2017 India Open last, will look to better the bronze medals she had won in 2013 and 2014. Her form has been hurt with a couple of quarterfinal finishes in her previous Super Series events. Saina Nehwal and Sindhu will go straight to the second round having been given byes in the first.

It is the Indian men who have dominated the season so far, winning six titles, including a maiden Super Series win for B Sai Praneeth in Singapore and Sameer Verma’s win at the Syed Modi Grand Prix.

Rio Olympians Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, young duo of Chirag Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Arjun MR and Ramchandran Shlok will compete in men’s doubles. Sumeeth and Ashwini Ponnappa will pair up to for the best bet in the mixed doubles, the other two dous being Pranaav Jerry Chopra with N Sikki Reddy and Satwik with Maneesha K.

The women’s doubles teams are Ashwini-Sikki, Meghana Jakkampudi with Poorvisha S Ram and Sanjana Santosh with Arathi Sara Sunil.