Sudirman Cup Group Stage- Sindhu wins but India lost
India lost 1-4 to Denmark in their opening match of the Sudirman Cup Group Stage. The Indian campaign began with a mixed doubles loss for Ashwini Ponnappa/ Satwiksairaj Rankireddy pair, followed by defeats to Ajay Jayaram (MS) and Manu Attri/ Sumeeth Reddy (MD) PV Sindhu scored the lone win for Indian side, who also lost the Women's Doubles event, in the five-match rubber.
What is the Sudirman championship?
Sudirman Cup is the badminton world mixed team championship which takes place every two years since it was established in 1989. It includes events like: Men's Singles, Women's Singles, Women's Doubles, Men's Doubles, and Mixed Doubles. The tournament is named after Dick Sudirman, a former Indonesian badminton player and the founder of PBSI - Badminton Association of Indonesia.
Tournament schedule
The 2017 Sudirman Cup is scheduled from 21-28 May in Gold Coast, Australia. It is the first time the tournament is being held outside Asia and Europe.
How does the competition work?
28 teams play in the tournament of which the top 12 ranked teams placed in Group 1 compete for the title. Group 1 has 4 sub groups of 3 teams each - Group 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D. The other 16 teams under Group 2 (two groups of 4 teams each) & 3 (two groups of 4 teams each), will compete only for overall placings.
Defending champion
China is the defending champion of Sudirman Cup having won it in 2015. They are also the team with most wins (10). Korea (3) and Indonesia (1) are the only two other countries to win the championship in its 14 editions.
Group 1 Teams
The competition has a group stage followed by knockout stage from the quarterfinals. The Groups Stage teams include : Group 1A - China, Thailand, Hong Kong ; Group 1B - Korea, Chinese Taipei, Russia ; Group 1C - Japan, Malaysia, Germany; Group 1D - Denmark, Indonesia, India. Followed by a round robin play, top two teams from each group proceed to quarterfinals.
