Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, the women’s doubles team, will be sidelined by injury, but P V Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will lead a formidable Indian singles squad at the Sudirman Cup Finals, which will take place in Xiamen, China, from April 27 to May 4.

Both Treesa and Gayatri, who are presently ranked 10th in the world, are reportedly recovering from shoulder problems brought on by a hectic schedule from the previous year. In addition to competing in 22 events in 2024, the pair has already made appearances in five tournaments this season.

Last year, the two had a great run, winning the Syed Modi International championship and making it to the BWF World Tour Finals quarterfinals in December.

The youthful duo of Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra, who were selected for the 14-member Indian team by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), will take charge in their absence in the women’s doubles competition.

India has been placed in a difficult Group D with past winners Indonesia, two-time runners-up Denmark, and a formidable English squad. India qualified for the coveted mixed team championships based on their overall global rating.

Following an injury hiatus, the powerful men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will return for the event. In March, Chirag had a back injury in the All England Championships’ second round.

In men’s doubles, Satwik and Chirag have been paired with the youthful duo of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi as backups.

“Despite some injury concerns, the selectors have chosen the best possible combination in all five categories,” said Sanjay Mishra, general secretary of the Badminton Association of India (BAI), in a statement.

We are a powerful force in any team competition as we are no longer reliant on just one or two disciplines to win the match. We have faith that the squad will not only leave their imprint during the group stages, but also have the opportunity to make history by taking home a medal,” he said.