Saina, Praneeth to lead India in Thomas, Uber Cup finals

Two-time Olympics medallist P V Sindhu opted out citing post-Olympics recovery.

Star Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth will lead the women's and men's teams in the Thomas and Uber Cup finals, scheduled in Denmark from October 9-17.

The Badminton Association of India also named a 12-member Indian team for the Sudirman Cup, which is scheduled from September 26 to October 3 in Finland.

For the Thomas and Uber Cup, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina will be accompanied by the top-3 singles rankers from the trials — Malvika Bansod, Aditi Bhatt and Tasnim Mir — in the 10-member women's team.

Three doubles pairs include Tanisha Crasto and Rutuparna Panda, who claimed the top spot in the trials.

The 10-member men's team comprises four singles players and three doubles pairs.

Alongside Praneeth and former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, the top-2 singles players from the trials — Kiran George and Sameer Verma — secured spots in the team.

The country's top men's doubles pairing of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy has been selected alongside top-2 ranked pairs from the trials.

The players, for the Thomas and Uber Cup and the Sudirman Cup, were selected on the basis of performances in the recently-concluded trials apart from the automatic selections of the players/pairs, who are placed inside the top-20 in the world rankings.

Two-time Olympics medallist P V Sindhu was not been included in the squad as she had requested to not be considered for selection citing post-Olympics recovery.

In the Thomas Cup, the Indian team is placed in the Group C alongside defending champions China, Netherlands and Tahiti.

The women's team is drawn in Group B along with Thailand, Spain and Scotland in the Uber Cup.

The 12-member team for the Sudirman Cup has the top-ranked doubles pair from the trials, Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun, alongside Srikanth, Praneeth and the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj and Chirag.

Among the women, the top-2 doubles pairs from the trials, Tanisha-Rutuparna and Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy have been selected alongside the top-2 singles from the trials, Bansod and Bhatt.

The biennial tournament will see the Indian team competing along with defending champions China, Thailand and hosts Finland in Group A.