NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL

Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and world No 18 Lakshya Sen will spearhead the Indian challenge at the Sudirman Cup Finals to be held in Xiamen, China from 27 April to 4 May, the national federation announced on Tuesday.

India, who qualified for the prestigious mixed team championships based on their overall world ranking, have been clubbed in a challenging Group D alongside former champions Indonesia, two-time runners-up Denmark, and a strong English outfit.

The 14-member Indian contingent will see the return of the formidable men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty after an injury break, while the country's top-ranked women's doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly will miss the event due to injury-related issues.

In their absence, the young combination of Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra will shoulder the responsibility in the women's doubles event, while young pairing of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi has been named as backup for Satwik and Chirag in the men's doubles.

"The selectors have picked the best possible combination in all the five categories despite some injury worries," Badminton Association of India (BAI) General Secretary Sanjay Mishra said in a release.

"We are no longer dependent on one or two disciplines to win the tie and that makes us a formidable force in any team event. We are confident that the team will not only make its mark in the group stages but can go on to create history by winning a medal," he added.

Besides Sen, the men's singles line-up also features HS Prannoy, while Sindhu will be joined by former national champion and world No 45 Anupama Upadhyaya in the women's singles.

Sindhu, who was recovering from a hamstring injury sustained in February, had valuable match practice at the Badminton Asia Championships last week.

In the mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, who reached the quarterfinals at the Asia Championships, will lead the challenge.