Sudirman Cup: We got a tough draw, says Pullela Gopichand

HYDERABAD: Indian shuttlers will be keen to end their medal drought at the Sudirman Cup mixed team championship which gets underway at Nanning on Sunday.
India had won medals at the all important events like Olympics, Asian Championships, Worlds, Thomas and Uber Cup but had never surpassed the quarterfinals of this thirty year old event.
A semifinal spot will ensure at least a bronze at this meet.Spearheaded by the likes of PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, Indians will hunt for the elusive medal.
India are clubbed with China and Malaysia in Group I-D. A win against either of the teams will guarantee a spot in the quarterfinals. A five-match rubber will decide the winners. Each rubber consists of a men's singles, doubles, women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles ties. Though India is quite strong in women's singles and to a certain extent in men's singles, doubles is the weak link.
India will start their campaign against Malaysia on Tuesday before facing the formidable Chinese contingent on Wednesday.
Against Malaysia, India may easily win the singles matches. With former world No.1 Lee Chong Wei missing out of action, Malaysia will rely on Lee Zii Jia in men's singles and either Jin Wei Goh or Soniia Cheah in women's singles. None of them will pose a threat to Srikanth, Sameer or the Indian girls.
However, it will be a tough task for India in doubles. India will be banking heavily on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy in team events. But Malaysia’s doubles teams have come up with several promising results this year and it requires a top class effort from India to upset them.
If India falters on Tuesday, the job gets quite tougher when they run into China the next day. With Shi Yuqi, Chen Long and Chen Yufei in good touch it will be difficult to win the singles ties as well. Yufei has been beating Saina and Sindhu without much difficulty. Chinese doubles teams are in top form. The best chance for India is to beat Malaysia and reach the knockout otherwise it will be virtually impossible to move ahead in this tournament.
Admitting this chief coach of the Indian team Pullela Gopichand said that Indians need to be at the top of their game. "The draw is very tough. Against Malaysia the singles may not be difficult but we need to work hard in doubles. Our players have trained really hard and our target is to win a medal at this tournament," Gopichand told ToI.
The coaches face another dilemma on whether to field Sindhu or Saina in women's singles. Gopichand was tight lipped on this but sources said that both will be playing one of the matches at the group stage. If the courts are fast Srikanth would play and if they are slow Sameer Verma would be preferred.