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A record 26 Indian players have qualified for the BWF World Badminton Championships. The 2022 BWF World Championships will be held from August 22 to 28 at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
For the first time in Indian badminton history, a record 26 shuttlers will compete in the prestigious tournament.
Improved world rankings helped Indians get maximum entries in this year’s World Championships. The overall world rankings of Indian players have improved a lot in the last couple of years.
Out of the five disciplines, men’s singles saw as many as four entries in the 32-player main draw. Never in Indian badminton history have four men’s singles players found a place in the main draw of the World Championships. The four shuttlers are Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth, and HS Prannoy.
Former world champion PV Sindhu, who triumphed at the 2019 Basel World Championships, and Saina Nehwal will be the only two women’s singles players to make the grade.
Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen won medals at last year's World Championships
The 26th World Championship last year in Huelva, Spain, was a memorable event for Indian badminton. For the first time, two Indian men's singles players managed to finish on the podium.
While Kidambi Srikanth bagged a historic silver medal, Lakshya Sen claimed a bronze medal. HS Prannoy reached the quarter-finals that edition.
The way Srikanth, Lakshya and Prannoy have been playing lately, Indian badminton fans can certainly hope for a repeat performance this year too.
History made as ten doubles pairs make the cut for the World Championships
Across the three doubles categories, India have at least two pairs in each event as they have climbed up in the world rankings. Men’s doubles and women’s doubles have four pairs each, while two mixed doubles pairs have also made the cut for the biggest badminton tournament in the world.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty could prove to be the dark horses of the tournament. The world No. 8 Indian pair will have to rise to the occasion to finish on the podium.
Indian players who qualified for the 2022 World Badminton Championships
Men’s singles
Lakshya Sen
Kidambi Srikanth
B Sai Praneeth
HS Prannoy
Women’s singles
PV Sindhu
Saina Nehwal
Men’s doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy - Chirag Shetty
Krishna Prasad Garaga - Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala
Dhruv Kapila - MR Arjun
Manu Attri - B Sumeeth Reddy
Women’s doubles
Ashwini Ponnappa - N Sikki Reddy
Treesa Jolly - Gayatri Gopichand Pullela
Shikha Gautam - K Ashwini Bhat
Pooja Dandu - Sanjana Santosh
Mixed doubles
Ishaan Bhatnagar - Tanisha Crasto
Venkat Bhatnagar - Tanishai Dewangan.
