Kuala Lumpur, April 15 (IANS): The Indian men's badminton team will begin its title defence against Thailand while the women's team kickstarts its campaign against Canada on the opening day of the Thomas & Uber Cup Finals, which will be held in Chengdu, China, from April 27.

Led by a stellar lineup including World No.1 doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, along with stalwarts like H.S. Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, and Kidambi Srikanth, the Indian men's team will be poised to defend recreate their title triumph from 2022 edition. India stunned 14-time champions Indonesia in the 2022 final and qualified automatically for the Thomas Cup 2024 courtesy of being the defending champions.

After facing Thailand in the Group C opener, the Indian men will play England on April 29 with a much-anticipated clash against Indonesia to be contested on May 1.

Meanwhile, the women's team is placed in Uber Cup Group A and will take on Canada on April 27, Singapore on the following day and China, the most successful team in the event's history with 15 titles, on April 30.

The women's team qualified for the Uber Cup 2024 after winning a historic gold medal in the Badminton Asia Team Championships earlier this year.

Fuelled by their historic title at the Badminton Asia Team Championships, the Indian women's team, led by the young sensation Anmol Kharb, is poised to make its mark on the international stage.

After the conclusion of the group stage, the top two teams from every group will qualify for the quarterfinals, which will be held over two days, on May 2 and 3. The finals will be held on May 5.

India's schedule:

Thomas Cup:

April 27: India vs Thailand

April 29: India vs England

May 1: India vs Indonesia

Uber Cup:

April 27: India vs Canada

April 28: India vs Singapore

April 30: India vs China

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