India's 2024 Thomas & Uber Cup campaign kicks off in Chengdu, China on the 27th of April. Considered the 'World Cup' of badminton, this tournament has no direct bearing on the upcoming Paris Olympics, but the performance of India's star badminton players under high-pressure situations will be noted.
India's men are defending champions of the Thomas Cup and have sent a strong squad, but the women's Uber Cup team is an inexperienced one, with PV Sindhu and the top doubles pairs opting out.
Thomas Cup
The Indian team embarks on the defence of a title that changed everything in Indian men's badminton when they won it in May 2022. India were rank underdogs then, but pulled off upset after upset to win the tournament. Consequently, as defending champions, there are greater expectations from the team. Even if a repeat gold isn't possible (the last five champions have been different), a medal is considered a realistic prospect this time around.
However, India could not have picked a tougher draw for their title defence, placed in the 'Group of Death' alongside 14-time world champions Indonesia; a Thailand team consisting of reigning men's singles world champion, Kunlavut Vitidsarn; as well as England, who can spring a few surprises of their own. Only the top two will advance to the quarterfinals from Group C and India will have their work cut out when they begin their campaign against Thailand on the 27th of April.
Rok sako tho rok lo �� #ThomasCup #defendingchampions pic.twitter.com/nrCvdZ4XMe
- PRANNOY HS (@PRANNOYHSPRI) April 25, 2024
Men's doubles is a lock... and not
Yet, India's men's badminton players have raised their game in team championships, and the 2022 Thomas Cup win was a springboard for success. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty often attribute their run of recent history-making victories to the way they won the Thomas Cup, and have already stated that a medal in the 2024 edition is a goal.
The pair have had a superb start to the year - with three straight finals and a title before a slight dip courtesy an early All England exit. It was followed by a withdrawal due to injury from the Badminton Asia Championships - this was preventative as fitness and calendar management would be crucial for their peak heading into the Olympics. The duo lock up one end of the doubles, but the second men's doubles pair continues to be a weak spot for India. MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila. will look to make the most of the opportunity and the team dynamic always inspires the best from its players. Arjun is returning from injury so playing together will be good match practice at the highest level.
The men's singles conundrum
As for India's singles, plenty has changed since the win in 2022. Then, Prannoy was the India no. 3, proving the hardened steel of his mettle we would go on to see in the next year at the World Championships and Asian Games. Now, he is India no. 1, a top 10 player with tangible feats and big medals heading to his first Olympics. He's not had the best of starts to the season, with an India Open semifinal run being his only feat of note amidst a recurrence of his gastric issues. Ahead of the Paris Olympics, the Thomas Cup is an important tournament to assess his form, with a caveat of him playing all the no.1 players from other teams. However, Prannoy is a regular giant slayer and will be raring to go now - not as the clincher but the one to lay the foundation.
Lakshya Sen, now India's no. 2 after a resurgence of form that saw back-to-back semifinal runs at the French Open and All England, is in a good mental space after months and will be raring to go at the tournament that he had played a big part in winning in 2022. Lakshya has always done well in team tournaments - his only good performance amidst the slump last year was at the Asian Games - where he beat Shi Yu Qi in the final. The 2024 Thomas Cup will give him match practice and confidence as he builds up for his first Olympics.
The big question for India is going to be who plays the third and deciding singles tie. Last time, the ever-bankable Prannoy with his never-say-die motto was the trump card that starred in tight situations. This time, this can be a problem area and the Badminton Association of India has selected 3 options for this one role - Kidambi Srikanth, Priyanshu Rajawat and Kiran George.
"With most of the top players going through a tough Paris Olympic qualification phase in the run up to Thomas Cup 2024, the selectors felt that it was important to have an additional singles player in the squad," was how the BAI justified their generous selection. Yet, that statement masks the erratic performance of India's singles players. Conventional wisdom suggests the most experienced of the lot and last time's champion, Srikanth, plays but the former world no. 1 has been crumbling in big matches lately. For instance, he had game points to beat Li Shi Feng in the Asian Games final, which would've seen India beat China, but Srikanth spiralled and went on to lose.
Both Priyanshu and Kiran are very young but have been around the tour and produced the odd upset. The third spot will be a tough call and could prove to be the difference between winning and losing for the defending champions.
Uber Cup
Unlike the Thomas Cup, very little is expected from the Uber Cup contingent, because India is fielding an inexperienced squad after PV Sindhu and the top 2 doubles pairs opted out.
Sindhu, who played all four weeks of March on the European swing, has chosen to sit this one out to focus on her Olympic preparations. Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, who made it to Paris at the last possible qualification tournament, are also not part of the mix. Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, who failed to make it to Paris, will be missing too.
Youthful squad
The idea seems to be to give young players who have done well recently at the National Championships a chance to play at the top level. This is also a much-awaited test for the third rung of women's badminton in India - given the gulf in rankings between them and their opponents will be stark. India are drawn in Group A, facing the might of China, with Canada and Singapore also representing tough opposition.
The main focus here would be on Anmol Kharb, the teenage star from India's fantastic Badminton Asia Team Championship win in February, who will lead the women's squad. Anmol played the finisher in that winning tournament, but will have to be protagonist this time, despite her BWF Tour ranking of 258.
15-year-old Tanvi Sharma, who was runner up to Anmol at the National Championships will also be a player to watch out for. Ashmita Chaliha and Isharani Baruah are the other singles players, with selectors not considering the BWF Tour floaters like Malvika Bansod and Akarshi Kashyap.
National doubles champions Shruti Mishra and Priya Konjengbam and Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker make up the doubles pairs.
This is an experiment from BAI, but with little at stake, this is the perfect moment to blood some youngsters and give them a taste of the BWF Tour's elite. Women's badminton was once a deep well of proven talent to draw from in India, but the well has run dry of late with PV Sindhu often the lone representative deep into tournaments on the BWF Tour. Set against that backdrop, opting for a next-gen squad makes sense and could go a long way in honing the bench strength of women's badminton in India.
Schedule (all timings in IST)
Thomas Cup
27 April, Saturday: India vs Thailand - 3:30 PM
29 April, Monday: India vs England - 7:00 AM
1 May, Wednesday: India vs Indonesia - 5:00 PM
Uber Cup
27 April, Saturday: India vs Canada - 10:30 AM
28 April, Sunday: India vs Singapore - 6:00 AM
30 April, Tuesday: India vs China - 7:00 AM
The Thomas and Uber Cup will be broadcast on Sports18 and live streamed on Jio Cinema.