PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth have earned their places in the BWF World Tour Finals, taking place in Bangkok between January 27 and 31. Unfortunately, India's doubles teams—Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in men's doubles, and Satwik and Ashwini Ponnappa in mixed doubles—didn't make the cut, even after reaching the elimination rounds.
Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu qualified for the BWF World Tour Finals booked to be held in Bangkok from January 27 to 31. Notwithstanding arriving at the elimination rounds, the men’s doubles team consisting of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and mixed doubles pair of Satwik and Ashwini Ponnappa were unsuccessful in making it to the Finals.
The year-end championships are exclusive to the top eight ranked players and pairs. While the event was supposed to happen in China back in December, the pandemic forced a reschedule to January. Srikanth's presence in the top eight was aided by the withdrawal of all Japanese and Chinese shuttlers from three consecutive events due to Covid-19 concerns, which helped him maintain his standing despite a lack of recent form.
In the men's singles category, Srikanth is ranked 7th on the Tour, despite being 14th in the world rankings. His preparations were interrupted when his roommate, Sai Praneeth, tested positive for Covid. However, after a negative test on Friday, Srikanth is hopeful that another negative result on Monday will allow him to compete starting Wednesday. The former world number one has already resumed training with his team.
Meanwhile, Sai Praneeth was discharged from the hospital on Saturday and headed straight to the airport from isolation, as quarantine rules for Indian athletes were lifted on Sunday. In the women's singles, world champion PV Sindhu also successfully qualified. Ranked 7th globally and 10th in the Tour standings, Sindhu benefited from the 'two players per country' rule. Since three top Thai players and Japan's Nozomi Okuhara were in the top eight—and Okuhara withdrew from three events—Sindhu was able to slide into the qualifying spots.
The tournament draw is expected to be announced this Tuesday. In other news, Carolina Marin and Viktor Axelsen continued their dominant streaks, claiming the women's and men's singles titles at the Thailand Open on Sunday, marking their second consecutive tournament victories.
singles and men’s singles titles in the ongoing Thailand Open on Sunday. It is to be noted that these two players have won the most recent week’s competition too.