Asian Games: Indian badminton squad announced

Also making the cut was Gayathri Gopichand, daughter of chief coach Pullela Gopichand – one of the six players representing India for the first time at senior level.

The men's charge would be led by World No.7 Kidambi Srikanth.

The 20-member Indian badminton squad for the 2018 Asian Games was announced on Wednesday with the focus being mainly on grooming youngsters for the future. While the men's charge would be led by World No.7 Kidambi Srikanth, P.V. Sindhu would be the top-ranked player for India among the women followed by Sania Nehwal.

While the top-ranked players including H.S. Prannoy and the doubles pairs of Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Sikki Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa were automatically assured of their spots, the rest of the players were selected following their performances in two senior ranking tournaments recently.

Also making the cut was Gayathri Gopichand, daughter of chief coach Pullela Gopichand – one of the six players representing India for the first time at senior level. India had managed to win just the women's team bronze in the 2014 edition.