Sindhu opts out of Uber Cup with eye on Olympics

NEW DELHI: Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu and the two top doubles pairs have opted out of the Uber Cup but a strong men’s team will take the court for its title defence in the Thomas Cup, commencing in Chengdu from April 27.

Sindhu, who has played six tournaments since returning to action at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in February, pulled out of the event to give herself more time to recover and be battle-ready for the Paris Olympics.

Top women’s doubles pairs -- Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto -- also withdrew since it is not a full-strength team with Sindhu missing.

Following the withdrawal of Sindhu and the two pairs, Badminton Association of India (BAI) decided to reward the players who performed at the Senior National Championships by giving them the India cap.

“Sindhu opted out as she is coming back from an injury and she wants to give herself enough time to prepare for Paris Games where she will hope to win another medal for the country,” BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra said.

“The doubles pairs also decided to skip the event as they too have been playing a lot of tournaments and want to focus on their qualification, so we have rewarded the semifinalists of the national championships by including them in the team.”