Badminton
Sudirman Cup 2025: Satwik-Chirag to lead 14-member Indian squad
Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand will miss out with an injury.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (Photo credit: BAI Media)
The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will lead a 14-member Indian contingent at the 2025 Sudirman Cup Finals in Xiamen, China, the Badminton Association of India announced on Tuesday.
Rankireddy and Shetty will have the likes of world championships medallists HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, and double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu for company in the mixed team event.
Anupama Upadhayay will be the second women's singles shuttler for India behind Sindhu, whereas Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi will form the second men's doubles pair.
In mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto-Dhruv Kapila will lead the Indian charge with Sathish Kumar Karunakaran-Aadya Variyath for company.
However, in a major blow to India's medal hopes, the country's premier women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will miss the competition after picking up an injury.
The young Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra will form the first choice women's doubles pair for India in Treesa-Gayatri's absence.
"The selectors have picked the best possible combination in all the five categories despite some injury worries," said BAI general secretary Sanjay Mishra in a statement.
"We are no longer dependent on one or two disciplines to win the tie and that makes us a formidable force in any team event," he added.
The 2025 Sudirman Cup will be held from 27 April, 2025 to 4 May, 2025.
India have never finished on the podium in the Sudirman Cup. Their best result in the tournament remains, two quarter-final finishes in 2011 and 2017 respectively.
In the last edition, India failed to go past the group stage after losing to Malaysia and Chinese Taipei.
For the 2025 Sudirman Cup, India have been drawn in Group D with Indonesia, Denmark, and England.
India had qualified for the event based on their world rankings.
Indian squad for 2025 Sudirman Cup
Men: Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Hariharan Amsakarunan, Ruban Kumar R, Dhruv Kapila, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran
Women: PV Sindhu, Anupama Upadhyaya, Tanisha Crasto, Priya Konjengbam, Shruti Mishra, Aadya Variyath
