Taipei Open: Kidambi, Anmol, Unnati to spearhead Indian challenge

NEW DELHI: Former world number one shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, along with rising women’s stars Anmol Kharb and Unnati Hooda, will be spearheading the Indian contingent at the Taipei Open, starting on Tuesday in Chinese Taipei.

Srikanth, currently the world number 61st in the rankings, is going through a lean patch, with just one quarterfinal appearance in last six tournaments. The 2021 World Championships silver medalist managed only one semifinal appearance last year across 14 tournaments, as per Olympics.com.

With top stars HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen opting out, India’s top men’s singles player will be world number 44 Ayush Shetty.

On the other hand, with two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu missing out, Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj, world No. 42, will be the top-ranked Indian women’s shuttler and will be backed by teen stars, Unnati and Anmol.

Taipei Open 2025 badminton: India squad

-Men’s singles: Kidambi Srikanth, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, Ayush Shetty, Tharun Mannepalli, Meiraba Luwang Maisnam; Qualifiers – Aryamann Tandon, Manraj Singh, Raghu Mariswamy, Mithun Manjunath

-Women’s singles: Anupama Upadhyaya, Unnati Hooda, Anmol Kharb, Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj, Aakarshi Kashyap; Qualifiers – Isharani Baruah, Mansi Singh, Shreya Lele, Ira Sharma

-Women’s Doubles: Rashmi Ganesh/Sania Sikkandar. (ANI)