India all set to board the shuttle express to greater glory

It will be a busy season next year for Indians as they will play at least 20 events, starting with the Yonex Sunrise India Open in January 11-16

Badminton star PV Sindhu's bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen's silver and bronze medal-winning performances at the World Championships in Spain made 2021 a historic year for Indian shuttlers. Looking at the remarkable performances of these players, one can be assured that they will continue their resurgence in 2022.

It will be a busy season next year for Indians as they will play at least 20 events, starting with the Yonex Sunrise India Open from January 11-16 in Delhi and ending with the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2022, December 14-22 in Guangzhou, China.

Apart from Sindhu, Indian badminton has high hopes from Srikanth, Sen, Parupalli Kashyap, B Sai Praneeth, HS Prannoy and the doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in 2022.

Twenty-eight-year-old Srikanth had struggled with form and fitness, with the lowest point coming when he failed to secure a Tokyo Olympics berth. But with two semi-final finishes at the Hylo Open in Germany in November 2021 and the Indonesia Masters besides a silver medal-winning performance at the World Championships, he has a promising great year ahead.

It was Srikanth's maiden final appearance since the 2019 India Open in Delhi where he lost to Denmark's Viktor Axelsen. Fresh from their clash in the World Championship final, newly-crowned champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore and silver medallist Srikanth are likely to meet again in the Yonex-Sunrise India Open.

Also Read — Badminton in 2021: Sindhu's journey to greatness, Srikanth's resurgence & Lakshya's emergence

With his youthful exuberance, Sen scripted a final finish at the Dutch Open in July 2021, made it to the semifinals at Hylo Open and then reached the knockout stage of the World Tour Finals on debut, where he sizzled with a bronze.

The 20-year-old showed his class and knocked out top players such as Kenta Nishimoto of Japan and Kevin Cordon of Guatemala on his way to the podium in the World Championship.

However, 26-year-old Sindhu will have to overcome fierce competition in 2022 from the likes of Taiwanese Tai Tzu Ying, Japan's Akane Yamaguchi and Spain's Carolina Marin, who is recovering from injuries. These are the names with which Sindhu has to compete in almost every international event.

Former world number 1 Saina Nehwal, who missed the World Championships for the first time in her career due to multiple injuries, is expected to be back in 2022. However, the 31-year-old has not made any announcement regarding her comeback. Saina has been struggling with injuries since winning the gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia. Over the past two years, she missed several tournaments, including the Tokyo Olympics, due to injuries and ailments.

In men's doubles, the promising pair of Shetty and Rankireddy reached the semi-finals at the Toyota Thailand Open, Swiss Open and Indonesia Open. However, injury forced Rankireddy out of action. Their wins against higher-ranked opponents at the Tokyo Olympics gives hope of a better year ahead.

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