7 shuttlers set to make Rio cut

New Delhi, May 3

An unprecedented seven Indian shuttlers are set to qualify for the Rio Olympics when the official BWF rankings are released on Thursday. On May 5, the cut-off date for the BWF rankings, 34 individual quota places for men and women each will be allocated to the highest ranked athletes in the singles event. The London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, who is currently at the 7th place in Race to Rio qualification, will play her third Olympic Games, while PV Sindhu, who is at the 9th position, will be the second Indian player in the women's singles competition at Rio.

In the men's singles, the 2014 China Open winner Kidambi Srikanth, who is at the 10th place, will carry the Indian flag, while Manu Attri and B Summeth Reddy will become the first Indian men's doubles pair to qualify for the Games. The world No. 19 pair is ranked 11th.

Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, who had represented India at the London Games, will play their second Olympics in the women's doubles competition. They are placed 9th at the moment.

However, no Indian pair was good enough to qualify in the mixed doubles event. Parupalli Kashyap was all set to qualify before a series of injuries robbed him of a chance to play in the Olympics for the second time. — PTI