Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap will lead India’s national squad for Sudirman Cup 2011 – Badminton News
India’s Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap, who are the ace shuttlers in the Men’s and Women’s singles categories, will lead a 13-player national squad to play in the Sudirman Cup 2011, which is going to kick-off in Qingdao, China, from May 22.
Nehwal, who is currently ranked at World Number Four in the Women’s Singles world rankings, will be India’s strong hope for in the Sudirman Cup, which is the most prestigious mixed team event in the world of Badminton.
Aditi Mutatkar, who belongs from Pune, India, will be another Women’s Singles shuttler who has proved her worth in recent events. She will join forces with top seed Nehwal in the Sudirman Cup.
P Kashyap, who is the leading shuttler in India in the Men’s Singles category, will be the top seed in the national squad. He has improved in all areas of the game in the last few years and has become a major player to look out for.
Arvind Bhat, the second seed in the Men’s Singles category will join hands with Kashyap in the prestigious event to be staged in China. He is also considered one of the best shuttlers in India.
In the category of Men’s Doubles, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas will be the top seeds in the national squad, while the young pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Arun Vishnu will also try to play well in the event.
In the Women’s Doubles category, winner of the Commonwealth Games, Ashwini Ponappa and Jwala Gutta will raise the Indian flag in the prestigious Sudirman Cup.
In the Mixed Doubles, the young couple of Prajakta Sawant and Pranav Chopra will join hands with Arun Lal and Aparna Balan.
National coach, Pullela Gopichand, Bhaskar Babu and OD Sharma will go with the team as their officials. India will play their opening match against Chinese Taipei on May 22.
It will be a superb contest as both countries are almost at the same level in the game. India has an edge in the Women’s Singles category, whereas, Chinese Taipei is expected to dominate in the Men’s Singles matches.
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