Indian Badminton squad 2022 for Commonwealth Games

    Top Indian shuttlers will compete in the mixed team and individual tournaments at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games

    H S Prannoy Excluded from CWG Image credit: pia.images.co.uk H S Prannoy Excluded from CWG

    The mixed team event will be held in Hall No. 5 of the National Exhibition Centre starting from July 29.

    The mixed event will feature teams from sixteen nations divided into four groups, with four teams in each group locking horns in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage.

    India's reigning champions have been placed in Group 1 alongside Pakistan, Singapore and Australia. Each tie will feature men's singles, women's singles, mixed doubles, women's doubles and a men's doubles match. 

    The India squad will consist of:

    Men's Singles: Lakshay Sen and Kidambi Srikanth

    Women's Singles: Aakarshi Kashyap and PV Sindhu

    Mixed Doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa and Sumeeth Reddy

    Women's Doubles: Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand

    Men's Doubles: Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy

    World No. 10 Lakshay Sen and World No. 11 Kidambi Srikanth, World No.8 pairing of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and PV Sindhu got direct entry into the squad as they were ranked in the Top-15 of the Badminton World Federation rankings.

    India will open their campaign in a tie against Pakistan on July 29. Lakshay Sen and PV Sindhu will be at the forefront of the Indian bid to defend the mixed team event title.

    HS Prannoy is not in the Indian squad for the 2022 CWG

    World No. 19 HS Prannoy is at the top of his form and has been recording consistent victories against Top-10 opponents despite suffering through a five-year-long title drought. The 29-year-old Indian shuttler played a decisive role in the title victory of India at the 2022 Thomas Cup as he showed immense grit and motivation to deliver whenever he went on court. He was selected for the Thomas Cup squad after being given an exception by the Badminton Association of India. 

    Despite being the third highest ranked Indian man on the BWF men's singles rankings, Prannoy failed to get a spot on the CWG squad after he was unable to meet the selection criteria laid down by the Badminton Association of India at the trial conducted earlier this year. However, Prannoy will be a part of the now postponed Asian games as the event will have more positions owing to the presence of separate men's and women's mixed events.

    Indian squad practising in Hyderabad

    The India shuttlers began practising for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in Hyderabad on July 18. The Badminton Association of India will hold joint exercises under the top coaches until they leave for Birmingham on July 25.

    The secretary of the Badminton Association of India, Sanjay Mishra, said, "It is very important to bring together all the players ahead of the Commonwealth Games. Such training sessions always help teams to get into the rhythm before any big event and also plan and work on various strategies as a team."