PBL 2020: Chennai Superstarz squad analysis for Premier Badminton League Season 5

The Chennai Superstarz will be in action on the first day of the Premier Badminton League 2020. They will lock horns with 2017-18 edition champions Hyderabad Hunters to kickstart the 21-day extravaganza on January 20th.

The Chennai-based franchise, formerly known as the Chennai Smashers, lifted the trophy at the end of the second edition of PBL.

The new-look side has an interesting mix of experienced and young players, and seem serious contenders for the title. They have as many as four Indian teenagers in their ranks along with many established International stars. Here is their squad analysis -

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Men’s Singles: Tommy Sugiarto, Lakshya Sen, S. Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran

Lakshya Sen (Image Credits - BWF)

Tommy Sugiarto is a top-class shuttler and is currently ranked 22nd in the world. The Indonesian International has played 546 career singles matches out of which he has 345 matches.

The singles specialist won the bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships in Copenhagen. Tommy finished runner-up at the 2018 Korea Open and 2018 Thailand Open and was the champion at the 2018 Thailand Masters. The ace Indonesian shuttler will be leading the charge for Chennai in the men's Singles category as he has loads of experience under his belt.

Young shuttler Lakshya Sen has been touted by many as the next big thing in Indian badminton. The 18-year-old has risen sharply in rankings and is currently 30th in the world in the category. Sen has played 189 career singles matches out of which he has won 146.

Even though the youngster was not at his sharpest at the recently concluded Malaysia Masters and Indonesia Masters, in addition to missing out from the main draw, there is no doubt about his abilities. Lakshya Sen will hope to use PBL season 5 as an opportunity to get his rhythm back. The Almora-born player is set to be a key figure for Chennai Superstarz this season.

S. Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian is a young Indian shuttler and will be one of the backup options in the squad. The 16-year-old will look to make the most of the limited opportunities he gets and also learn from his experienced fellow teammates.

Sathish Kumar Karunakaran will also be a backup option in the squad. Just like Muthusamy, the 18-year-old will look to gain recognition and maximize his learning in PBL season 5.

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Men’s Doubles: Sumeeth Reddy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Dhruv Kapila

Sumeeth Reddy in action (Image credits - BWF)

The Chennai Superstarz are probably the strongest unit when it comes to the men's doubles category.

Sumeeth Reddy is best known to partner with Manu Attri in the International circuit and the duo are ranked 31st in the world. 28-year-old Reddy has played 283 career doubles matches and won 145 of them. The Sumeeth-Manu duo triumphed at the India International and Nepal International last year.

Reddy also won the gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games in men's doubles with Manu and was part of the gold medal-winning men's team at 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu. The duo have been playing together for a long time and this could have proved to be a huge advantage for Chennai Supertarz in Season 5 but sadly Manu has been ruled out of the tournament.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (left) is one of India's top doubles player

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy is also a specialist doubles player. He pairs up with Chirag Shetty in the international circuit and the duo are currently ranked 11th in the category. The 19-year-old has played 180 career doubles matches, of which he has won an impressive 113. Satwiksairaj and Chirag had a fantastic 2019 season as they won the prestigious Thailand Open (Super 500) and also reached the summit clash at the French Open (Super 750).

With Manu Attri unavailable, Rankireddy may have to do a double shift and play both the men's Doubles (with Sumeeth) and take part in the mixed doubles matches (with Gabrielle) as well.

Dhruv Kapila also features in the Chennai squad. The 19-year-old has a ranking of 119 in the men's doubles category. The 2019 South Asian Games gold medallist has played 91 doubles matches of which he has won 54. Dhruv, who partners with Krishna Prasad Garaga in the international circuit will be required to come into action if there is too much workload on Satwiksairaj.

Also Check out - Updated PBL Points Table

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Women's Singles: Kirsty Gilmour, Gayatri Gopichand

Kirsty Gilmour

Scottish International Kirsty Gilmour is a terrific singles player and is currently World No.31. The right-handed shuttler has played 391 career singles matches out of which she has won a fantastic 259.

26-year-old Kristy finished as the runner-up at the 2019 European Games in Minsk and is known to be a tough competitor. She also finished as the runner-up at the Russian Open and Orleans Masters (both Super 100 tournaments) last year and will be a key part of the Chennai-based franchise.

Gayatri Gopichand won a silver medal at the 2019 South Asian Games in the women's singles category and was also a part of the gold-medal-winning women's team at the flagship event. The youngster also finished second best at the 2019 Nepal International.

Regardless, 16-year-old Gayatri is still fairly inexperienced. PBL Season 5 is a great opportunity for the daughter of veteran Indian player Pullela Gopichand to step up her game and brush shoulders with some of the best players in the world.

Kristy Gilmour will only be able to join the Chennai Superstarz from the Lucknow leg. This means that young Gayatri will likely be locking horns with PV Sindhu in their season opener against Hyderabad. It is matches like these which make PBL so special and exciting.

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Mixed Doubles: Gabrielle Adcock, Sanjana Santosh

Gabrielle Adcock in action

English doubles specialist Gabrielle Adcock is likely to pair up with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy for PBL Season 5. The 29-year-old has played a phenomenal 504 career mixed doubles matches out of which she has won 323. Gabrielle and her English partner Chris Adcock are currently ranked 12th in the World. The duo won the Bronze medal at the 2017 BWF World Championships.

Gabrielle is also a gold medallist from two editions of the Commonwealth Games, having won the top honours in 2014 and then in 2018. She is a great shuttler and has great movement on the court. Gabrielle has won many titles in her career and will be aiming to help the Chennai-based franchise to the PBL trophy.

Sanjana Santosh will be the backup option in the Chennai squad in the mixed doubles category. The 22-year-old won the 2019 Lagos International and finished runner-up at the 2019 Slovenian International with her women's doubles partner Pooja Dandu. Sanjana will be looking to make the most of her limited opportunities at the blockbuster tournament.