Seven Indian shuttlers have booked their berth for the upcoming Rio Olympics, scheduled in August. Of the seven, the list includes two women’s singles players – Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, a men’s singles player – Kidambi Srikanth, women’s doubles pairing – Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa while Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy make up the men’s doubles team. It is the biggest badminton contingent India would be fielding at the quadrennial Games.
The qualifying slots were confirmed after the qualifying tournament, the Badminton Asia Championships, ended on Sunday in China. Shuttlers earn Olympic qualification on the basis of the rankings which will be released on May 5. Five shuttlers had made the cut in 2012 London Olympics. Badminton was introduced in the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992.