BAI to conduct selection trial on 28 August to pick teams for Sudirman Cup, Thomas and Uber Cup Finals

New Delhi: The Badminton Association of India will conduct a selection trial on 28 August to pick the teams for the upcoming Sudirman Cup and Thomas and Uber Cup Finals. The prestigious Sudirman Cup Mixed Team Championship is scheduled to be held in Vantaa, Finland from 26 September to 3 October, followed by Thomas and Uber Cup from 9 October to 17 October at Aarhus in Denmark. “BAI will be conducting selection trial for forthcoming Sudirman Cup and Thomas & Uber Cup to be held at Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy, Hyderabad from 28th (Saturday) August 2021 onwards,” the governing body said in a letter. “Players are requested to report for the Trial by 27th August 2021 (Evening).” The 105 players called the trials include both junior and senior shuttlers. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, 2012 London Games bronze winner Saina Newhal, Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth, 2016 Rio Olympics quarterfinalist Kidambi Srikanth and world No. 10 Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have been selected directly for the two events. India, along with England, Russia and Egypt, has been placed in the 9 to 16 bracket at the Sudirman Cup. “We have selected the players who are ranked inside the top 20 in the world directly for the two tournaments. They don’t need to go through the trials,” BAI general secretary Ajay Singhania told PTI. Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, Verma brothers – Sameer and Sourabh, former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap, Ajay Jayaram and Subhankar Dey are the prominent names in men’s singles players’ list. In women’s singles, Ashmita Chaliha, Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap, Tasnim Mir, Vaishnavi Jakka Reddy and Gayatri Gopichand are some of the names who will be participating in the trials. Women’s doubles pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy and men’s doubles combination of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will also have to go through the trials. BAI also said that “parents, personal coaches and other members” will not be allowed during the trials in line with the COVID-19 protocols. The last date of entry is 26 August.