India's badminton squad for Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
India is favoured to medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in the badminton events and has a very well-balanced squad led by PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen.
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen (Source: Getty, BAI)
After having a wonderful outing at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the Indian badminton team will be looking to improve their medal count at the upcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which is set to begin on July 28th and conclude on August 8th.
In the 2018 edition of the Commonwealth Games, the Indian badminton squad returned with 6 medals - 2 gold, 3 silvers and 1 bronze. While the Indian side won the Mixed Team badminton event, it was Saina Nehwal who claimed the gold in the women's singles and PV Sindhu took the silver.
Aside from that, Kidambi Srikanth also won silver as did the men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Meanwhile, in the women's doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy had claimed bronze.
For the 2022 CWG, the Indian badminton team sports a different look with new forces having arrived on the scene in the form of Lakshya Sen, Aakarshi Kashyap and the young pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, alongside veteran and seasoned campaigners, as usual.
In selecting the squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) had a smooth and transparent trials process in April and a set of qualification standards which athletes had to meet to make it on the squad. However, a glaring miss from the squad will be Commonwealth champion Saina Nehwal as she did not meet the criteria of qualification and also opted out from participating in the trials, making her lose the spot beside Sindhu.
All in all, India's chances to medal at the upcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in badminton is very likely in almost all events given the weak field of competition present. Indian badminton is on the rise and the Thomas Cup victory by the men's team is a major booster for athletes going into the CWG. Therefore, it can be expected that India will return with more than 6 medals from the badminton events and hopefully, also successfully defend the mixed team title as well.
READ | CWG 2022: India handed easy draw in badminton mixed team event
Here's the Indian badminton squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games:
Men's Singles
Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth
Women's Singles
PV Sindhu, Aakarshi Kashyap
Men's Doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty
Women's Doubles
Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly
Mixed Doubles
Ashwini Ponnappa/N Sikki Reddy