Thomas & Uber Cup 2020 badminton: Watch Saina Nehwal, Chirag Shetty, S Rankireddy in live action
Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth and Ashwini Ponnappa are also in the Indian badminton team. Watch live!
Ace Indian badminton players Saina Nehwal, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy return to the national side for the Thomas & Uber Cup 2020 campaign which starts from October 9 in Aarhus, Denmark.
India will be aiming to improve after their performance at last month’s Sudirman Cup mixed team championship, where they lost to China and Thailand in the group stage and bowed out.
In the Thomas Cup, which is the men’s team championship, 16 teams are divided into four groups. India are placed in Group C with defending champions China, the Netherlands and Tahiti.
Similarly, another 16 teams will compete in the Uber Cup, the women’s event, in which India are drawn with Scotland, Spain and Thailand in Group B. The reigning champions Japan are in Group A.
Indian teams for both events feature 10 players each.
The men’s Thomas Cup side boasts three Tokyo Olympians, B Sai Praneeth and the doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, along with former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy gave the Sudirman Cup a miss after the former was injured. The duo’s return will be a big boost for India in the Thomas Cup.
On the other hand, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal will lead the young women’s team in the Uber Cup in the absence of
PV Sindhu, who wanted rest after her bronze-winning campaign at Tokyo 2020. The squad also features Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy.
While the women’s team will open its campaign against Spain, the men will be up against the Netherlands in their first tie.
Each tie at the Thomas and Uber Cup comprises three singles and two doubles matches. The first team to win three of the five matches clinches the tie.
The top two countries from each group qualify for the knockout stage. The Thomas & Uber Cup 2020 ends on October 17.
Indian badminton group-stage schedule and live India start times for Thomas & Uber Cup 2020
All times are in India standard time (IST)
Thomas Cup
Sunday, October 10 - India vs Netherlands - 10:30 PM IST onwards
Tuesday, October 12 - India vs Tahiti - 10:30 PM IST onwards
Thursday, October 14 - India vs China – 12:00 PM IST onwards
Uber Cup
Sunday, October 10 - India vs Spain – 12:00 PM IST onwards
Tuesday, October 12 - India vs Scotland - 12:00 PM IST onwards
Wednesday, October 13 - India vs Thailand – 12:00 PM IST onwards
Where to watch the Thomas & Uber Cup 2020 live in India?
The Thomas & Uber Cup 2020 will be telecast live on the Star Sports 3 TV channel in India.
Thomas & Uber Cup 2020 live streaming will be available on the Disney+Hotstar website and app.
Indian badminton squad for Thomas & Uber Cup 2020
Thomas Cup: B Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth, Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Kiran George, Sameer Verma, Dhruv Kapila, M.R. Arjun, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnu Vardhan.
Uber Cup: Saina Nehwal, Malvika Bansod, Aditi Bhatt, Tanisha Crasto, Treesa Jolly, Tasnim Mir, Rutuparna Panda, Ashwini Ponnappa, N. Sikki Reddy, Gayatri Gopichand.