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PV Sindhu remains the only player in the Indian contingent selected for the Sudirman Cup to get her China visa approved. 14 players and five members of the support staff are still awaiting their visa approval. PV Sindhu, her coach Vidhi Choudhary and physio B Evangeline are the only members of the Indian contingent to have received the visa.
The team is scheduled for a flight from Bengaluru to Shanghai on May 10. The athletes are currently residing in Hyderabad. As per the rules of the Chinese embassy, the team has to assemble in New Delhi for a physical biometric process which takes around 24 hours. The association is now left with just one day, i.e Monday to get their visa’s approved. The biennial tournament is slated to begin from May 14 in Suzhou, China.
“The seats have been reserved. The squad has satisfied all necessary requirements to be sent to the competition. The flight is scheduled, but everything seems challenging unless the Chinese embassy issues us visas,” a source said to Times of India.
On the strength of their bronze-medal performance at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships earlier this year, India has qualified for the 2023 Sudirman Cup.
The following is the Indian squad for the Sudirman Cup 2023:
Men:
M.R. Arjun, Dhruv Kapila, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Sai Prateek .K, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Shetty Chirag
Women:
Tanisha Crasto, Treesa Jolly, Ashwini Ponnappa, Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, PV Sindhu, Anupama Upadhyaya
Reserves:
Lakshya Sen and Aakarshi Kashyap