New Delhi: World No. 12 Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has decided to skip the Thomas Cup that will kick off on May 15 in Wuhan China, in order to keep himself fully fit and prepared for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“I am taking a break to train for Indonesia Open and to be at my best for the Olympics,” said Srikanth.
Without Srikanth and another Indian top shuttler, Parupalli Kashyap who is still grappling with a knee injury, Ajay Jayaram will lead the Indian’s charge alongside H.S. Prannoy, B. Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma.
Thomas Cup format consists of 3 singles and 2 doubles matchup.
The India Thomas Cup team will see Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy, who became the first Indian men’s doubles pair to qualify for the Olympics, Akshay Dewalkar, R Satwik Sai Raj and Chirag Shetty line up for the doubles.
India have to be careful with Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong in Group B before they can confirm a place in the knock-out stage, as only top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, defending champion, Japan and top seeds China found themselves drawn in the same group with France and Mexico in Group A.
Sixteen teams qualified for both the Thomas Cup Finals based on their performance in the continental team championships and team rankings.
Here is the Thomas Cup Draw:
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Group A: China, Japan, France, Mexico
Group B: Indonesia, India, Thailand, Hong Kong
Group C: South Korea, MALAYSIA, England, Germany
