Watch live: India’s PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth in BWF World Tour Finals

Reigning women's world champion PV Sindhu and former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth are the only Indian badminton players who have qualified for the BWF World Tour Finals, which will be held in Thailand, from January 27 to 31.

According to qualification criteria, the top eight singles players and doubles pairs from each category (men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles) in the BWF Road to Bangkok Rankings have been invited to play.

A maximum of two players or doubles teams per country are permitted to participate.

Rio 2016 silver medallist PV Sindhu is ranked 10th in the BWF Road to Bangkok Rankings.

Japan's Nozomi Okuhara (rank 7), along with the entire Japanese team, has pulled out of the tournament owing to COVID-19 concerns. Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan (rank 8) also misses out since she was the third women's player from her country in the top eight in women's singles.

These developments allowed PV Sindhu to squeeze into the BWF World Tour Finals roster as the final women's singles player.

PV Sindhu will join Spain’s Carolina Marin, Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon and Pornpawee Chochuwong, South Korea’s An Se Young, Canada’s Michelle Li and Russia’s Evgeniya Kosetskaya in the women’s singles main draw.

Unfortunately, India’s other top women’s singles player Saina Nehwal and the entire doubles contingent, including Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, fell short of the cut.

In men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth's entry was more straightforward considering he is ranked 7th. However, Srikanth's chances of playing were thrown into doubt after his roommate B Sai Praneeth tested COVID-19 positive during the recently-concluded Thailand Open.

As a result, Kidambi Srikanth was forced to pull out of his second round tie at the tournament and was mandated a 14-day quarantine, which would have ruled him out of the BWF World Tour Finals.

The Badminton World Federation, on Sunday, however, decided to reduce his quarantine period to seven days, bringing the Indian badminton player back in the mix.

Denmark duo Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen, Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen and Wang Tzu Wei, Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus, Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia and Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting are the other players making up the eight-man roster.

The draw will be held on January 26.

Where to watch the BWF World Tour Finals 2021 draw?

The BWF World Tour Finals draw is scheduled for 8:30 AM IST (Indian Standard Time) on Tuesday, January 26, 2021.

Live streaming of the draw will be available on BWF’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Where to watch the BWF World Tour Finals badminton matches live in India?

The BWF World Tour Finals badminton matches will be telecast live on the Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 2 HD TV channels in India. Broadcast starts from January 27, 9:30 AM Indian Standard Time (IST).

Live streaming of the BWF World Tour Finals will be available on Disney+ Hotstar OTT platform.