Sudirman Cup Finals 2023 preview: India need to fire on all cylinders to get out of tough group

It is perhaps fitting that the Indian badminton team will begin another team World Championships almost exactly on the one-year anniversary of their greatest triumph, with a sense of expectation. On May 15, 2022, India became World Champions in the men’s team event by lifting the Thomas Cup. It was an unprecedented achievement for the sport in the nation, that had become used to individual event success in the last couple of decades. On May 14, 2023, India will begin their Sudirman Cup Finals campaign in Suzhou, China.

HS Prannoy, PV Sindhu and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty will lead India’s charge at the event this year. India are drawn with two other Asian heavyweights Malaysia and Chinese Taipei in Group C. The fourth team in India’s group is Australia.

Before Thomas Cup 2022, India had never won a medal in the tournament’s history. And they didn’t stop with semifinals, that would have given them a place on the podium, they went all the way. But even before the tournament began, there was a feeling that the squad India took to Bangkok was capable of leaving a mark at the Impact Arena.

The Sudirman Cup, however, will be a notch higher, even though India have brought out the big guns...

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