Tough draw for India

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 8: Indian women's task of making it to the next stage of the Uber Cup qualifying tournament was made difficult with pr...

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 8: Indian women’s task of making it to the next stage of the Uber Cup qualifying tournament was made difficult with preliminary league being clubbed into one group following withdrawal of Zambia and Pakistan. India face strong Singapore in their opening match on Sunday, February 13 with Oceania champions Australia their next opponent on Monday, according to the draw released here by the tournament organisers.

India will meet Sri Lanka in their last league encounter with top two qualifiers making it to the Super League Groups X and Y.

Indian chances of progressing to the Super League will depend on top shuttler Aparna Popat who leads a nine-member home team at the Asian qualifying tournament scheduled here from February 13 to 20.

Story continues below this ad

Hosts India had an excellent chance of reaching the Super League stage with Zambia and Sri Lanka in their group. Australia, Singapore and Pakistan were in the other group with the group winners joining seeded teams in the Super League. With two teams out,India will have to fend off challenge from Singapore and Australia to move ahead.

In men’s duels for Thomas Cup, India is directly seeded into the Super League Group Y, but they face opening tie against strong Japan on February 16. Indian men’s chances were also made tougher with their next tie against Asian powerhouse Korea. Two nations from the four-team group will move into the semi-final round with top three teams progressing to the finals at Kuala Lumpur in May.

Rajnath Singh warned Pakistan that every inch of its land is within BrahMos’ range as India rolled out its first missiles from Lucknow.

Every inch of Pakistan’s territory now within BrahMos reach: Rajnath Singh

Cities37 min ago

Rajnath Singh warns Pakistan about the reach of the BrahMos missile, praises ‘Operation Sindoor’ and the missile’s technological superiority. He and CM Yogi Adityanath flag off the first batch of BrahMos missiles made in Lucknow, emphasizing their economic impact and thanking Adityanath for his support.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS