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2 min readUpdated: Mar 18, 2026 09:32 PM IST
Indian men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)
India’s men’s and women’s teams have been handed a decent draw in the group stages of next month’s 2026 Thomas and Uber Cup championships. The prestigious team event will be held in Horsens, Denmark from April 24th to May 3.
While the Indian men created history by winning the 2022 edition of the Thomas Cup, the women’s team has won the bronze medal in the 2014 and 2016 editions. The team of 2022 — comprising players like Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty — had defeated 14-time Thomas Cup champions Indonesia to claim their title.
Both the Indian teams are seeded eighth in the tournament based on their individual players’ world rankings. Giving India company in Group A will be defending champions and top seeds, China.
The 2022 Thomas Cup champions India will be favourites to claim one of the two quarterfinals spots from Group A that also comprises Pan Am champions Canada and Oceania champions Australia.
The women’s team, however, has a slightly tricky road to the knockout stages as they are clubbed with European team championships runners up Denmark and bronze medallists Ukraine.
“We have got a decent draw and a chance to reach the quarterfinals in both the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup competition. We have a strong team that has proved that they can beat any top team on their day and after reaching the quarterfinals anything is possible,” said BAI secretary general Sanjay Mishra while responding to the draw for the prestigious team championships.
The team events of Thomas and Uber Cup are something that badminton powerhouses of Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Japan and Denmark have prioritised over every other event.
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