Indian men have drawn tricky opponents in Malaysia, Germany and South Korea while women are placed alongside Thailand, Canada and Hong Kong in the Thomas and Uber Cup scheduled at Siri Fort Sports Complex here from May 18 to 25.
India will be hosting the prestigious event for the first time with top 16 international teams competing for the title.
The Badminton World Federation has done away with the qualifiers for the event from this year and entries were decided on the basis on team’s world rankings.
National coach Pullela Gopichand said he was not expecting any easy matches.
“I won't expect easy draws for this event. If you look at the men's draw it is tougher but all the matches are going to be good. Except against Lee Chong Wei, we have a chance in every singles match,” Gopichand said at the draw ceremony.
“On the women's side, if we wouldn't have drawn Hong Kong it would have been better. But Hong Kong doesn't have so much depth. I think we should get into the last-eight stages here.”
Thomas Cup
Group A: Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria, Singapore;
Group B: Japan, Denmark, Hong Kong, England;
Group C: India, Malaysia, South Korea, Germany;
Group D: China, Russia, France, Chinese Taipei.
Uber Cup:
Group A: China, Chinese Taipei, England, Russia;
Group B: South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Singapore;
Group C: India, Thailand, Canada, Hong Kong;
Group D: Japan, Denmark, Malaysia, Germany.
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