Sudirman Cup 2025: Depleted India aim to punch above their weight – Preview

A depleted Indian side will have its task cut out when they take the field at the 2025 Sudirman Cup in Xiamen, China.

The prestigious mixed team tournament is the equivalent of World Cup in the sport of badminton. In the eighteen editions of the competition so far, only three teams have lifted the title – China (13 times), South Korea (4 times), and Indonesia (once).

India, as a matter of fact, has never even finished on the podium at the Sudirman Cup. Their best display in the tournament remains a quarter-finals finish each in the 2011 and 2017 editions respectively.

Placed in a tough Group D for the 2025 Sudirman Cup along with Denmark, England, and inaugural champions Indonesia, India will face a stiff challenge to advance to the knock out rounds.

The fact that India will be competing without their premier doubles pairs – Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in men's doubles, Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand in women's doubles, further compound their woes.

In their absence, the onus will be on the in-form and fast-rising mixed doubles duo of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila to step up and deliver the results in the first match of each tie.

In singles, India will mostly rely on World Championships medallist Lakshya Sen and double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu. The fact that the duo haven't had the best run of form in the 2025 season so far doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

India also has the experienced HS Prannoy and southpaw Anupama Upadhyay to fall back on in men's and women's singles, respectively.

With Satwik-Chirag pulling out owing to 'sickness', Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi are India's only men's doubles pair.

Similarly, the young Shruti Mishra and Priya Konjengbam will lead the charge in women's doubles. Meanwhile, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran-Aadya Variyath will form the second choice mixed doubles pair behind Crasto-Kapila.

It remains to be seen, if India will field a scratch pair in the men's and women's doubles event, partnering Kapila with Sathish and Crasto with Aadya or either of Mishra or Konjengbam, to make up for their lack of resources.

Indian Squad for 2025 Sudirman Cup

Men's Singles: Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy

Women's Singles: PV Sindhu, Anupama Upadhyay

Men's Doubles: Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi

Women's Doubles: Shruti Mishra and Priya Kongjengbam

Mixed Doubles: Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath

Format

A total of 16 teams have been divided into four groups of four teams each for the 2025 Sudirman Cup.

Each team will play three ties apiece in the group stage, and the top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stages or the quarter-finals.

Each tie in the group stage will consist of five matches – mixed doubles, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, and women's doubles.

Regardless of the result of the tie, all five matches will be played in the group stages.

However, from the quarter-finals onwards, the first team to win three matches wins the tie and advances further in the competition. This means if a team wins the first three matches, the final two doubles matches will not be played at all.

Groups

Group A: China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Algeria

Group B: South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Canada, Czechia

Group C: Japan, Malaysia, France, Australia

Group D: India, Denmark, England, Indonesia

Schedule

India will open their 2025 Sudirman Cup campaign against European heavyweights Denmark on Sunday.

Despite the Danish team missing the reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, India face a tough challenge with the presence of men's singles world No. 3 Anders Antonsen and world No. 1 men's doubles pair Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen.

India will then go up against Indonesia on Tuesday and England on Thursday.

27 April: India vs Denmark

29 April: India vs Indonesia

1 May: India vs England

Where to Watch?

You can catch all the LIVE action from the 2025 Sudirman Cup on the BWF YouTube channel.