Shuttling high?

A record seven-member contingent for badminton at the Rio Olympics may spell good news for India, but recent form suggests the need to exercise caution

SAINA NEHWAL

The 26-year-old is once again India's best bet for an Olympic medal in this sport. Her bronze medal in the London Olympics broke new ground for Indian badminton, however signs of progress were visible much earlier when she became the first Indian to reach the Olympic quarterfinals in the sport in 2008. Though nurtured through her formative years by Pullela Gopichand, she changed her coach to Vimal Kumar in September 2014, that has somewhat revived her career which appeared to be on the downslide at that time. Her already rich profile went up by a few notches in March of last year, when she became the first ever Indian to be crowned as the world number one.

That said, India are not expected to be in with a rich haul of medals in Rio and Nehwal will be one of the favourites, putting her under huge pressure. Inability to win a medal or not improving on her London 2012 bronze could be deemed a failure. Her head to head record against other top players could also go against her- these include world number two Tai Tzu Ying who has won their last seven encounters, former world number one Wang Shixian who has won five of their last seven encounters and 2012 Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui who has won nine of their 11 encounters. A second medal in Rio will confirm her as one of the finest athletes India has produced in recent times.

Kidambi Srikanth

KIDAMBI SRIKANTH

A year ago, the 23 year-old Andhra Pradesh lad, who is coached by Gopichand, was in peak form reaching a career high ranking of third in the world. He had memorably won the China Open (beating Lin Dan in the final) and followed that up by winning the Indian Open.

Srikanth's form in Super Series events since winning the Indian Open last year has been disappointing and not reflective of an athlete who could be considered a medal hopeful. His ranking has in this period slipped to 12th in the world. Will he regain his mojo in time for the Olympics to be a medal contender? One can't say but his form in the buildup doesn't seem to suggest so.

P V Sindhu

P V SINDHU

The 20 year-old Hyderabadi is like Nehwal a protege of Pullela Gopichand. Sindhu's biggest plus point is her height, she stands around 5 feet 10 inches, an advantage but at the same time something that seems to have in her early years restricted her on-court mobility. Sindhu burst on to the limelight in 2013 with her bronze medal winning display at the World Championships, the first Indian singles player to do so in 30 years. She repeated the feat a year later.

Sindhu is currently ranked 10th in the world, having reached a career high of eight earlier this year. She has had issues with injuries in her short career so far, a foot injury kept her out for most of 2015. Also despite her World Championship accomplishments, she has so far lacked the consistency which Nehwal possessed at the same age as her.

Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa

JWALA GUTTA-ASHWINI PONNAPPA

The two will be participating in their second Olympics, after they had narrowly failed to reach the quarterfinals in the 2012 Games. They are a largely controversial duo, more because of Gutta and her outspoken statements, rather than the relatively more diplomatic Ponnappa. The Gutta-Ponnappa partnership has failed to build on the early promise they showed when they won the Gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and then went on to win the bronze medal in the 2011 World Championships. Gutta is six years older than Ponnappa and also stands seven inches taller than her partner. They are currently ranked 14th in the the world.

Manu Attri-Sumeeth Reddy

MANU ATTRI-SUMEETH REDDY

Perhaps the most unsung and least known of India's Badminton contingent at Rio, Attri and Reddy's participation will ensure India has a men's doubles team playing the Olympics for the first time since 1992. The duo won its maiden Grand Prix title in December in Mexico, having reached the finals of two Grand Prix events earlier. That said, their form while playing in the more competitive Super Series tournaments over the last two years is nothing much to write home about, having failed to go past the second round in any of those tournaments. They are currently ranked 20th in the world.