PV Sindhu is a certainty for gold: Prakash Padukone

India badminton legend Prakash Padukone and former chief national coach Vimal Kumar are confident that the Indian badminton contingent will excel at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham July 28 to August 8ldquoPV Sindhu is a certainty for gold in her event And we should have two medals in the menrsquos singles with Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen expected to do the honours In menrsquos doubles too I think we have a sure medal Chirag ShettySatwiksairaj Rankireddy Then we have a balanced team in the team championships event toordquo Padukone a gold medallist at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton Canada told midday recentlyIndiarsquos doubles stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy left and Chirag ShettyBetter tally this timeIndia won six medals two gold three silver one bronze at the 2018 edition in Gold Coast Australia ldquoThere is no doubt in my mind that Indiarsquos badminton medal tally at this CWG will be the best everrdquo said Vimal who felt that the only weak point could be in the womenrsquos doubles and mixed doubles making things tricky in the team championships Two teamsmdashEngland and Singaporemdashhave a good tradition in both the mixed and the ladies doubles events They have higher ranked players than India in both these categories So India must make sure that they win the ladies singles where is no match for double Olympic medallist SindhuPrakash Padukone amp Vimal KumarChiragSatwiksairaj favouriteIn the menrsquos doubles Chirag and Satwiksairaj should be able to win without a problem and in the menrsquos singles Srikanth and Lakshya should do well Singapore are a dangerous team as they have a strong menrsquos singles contender in current world champion Loh Kean Yew However if India meet Malaysia in the final they have an upper hand as Malaysiarsquos star singles player Lee Zhi Jia has withdrawn to concentrate on the BWF World Championships in AugustAlso Read TOPS athlete Harshada Garud clinches gold at Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting ChampionshipMalaysia have a World No6 ranked doubles pair in Aaron Chia and Sooh Wooi Yik but they lost in the Singapore Open to Indiarsquos second pair of Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun so Satwiksairaj and Chirag should be able to overcome them Then Sindhu has no opposition so India can win three of the five matchupsTwo menrsquos singles medalsIn the individual events Sindhu should stroll Indiarsquos menrsquos doubles team of Chirag and Satwiksairaj should also win gold In the menrsquos singles India are looking good to win two medals but for one of those to be gold one would have to beat a giant in LohVimal believes that a gold and silver in the menrsquos singles is possibleldquoIt will be difficult but itrsquos not impossible It will be great for our squadrdquo he said However that will depend on the draw as Loh is World No9 while Lakshya is 10 and Srikant is 11 So if Loh is the top seed and Lakshya is No2 Srikanth can face any of these two in the semifinals and it will be sheer bad luck if two Indians clash in the penultimate roundIn the womenrsquos doubles the CWG is a great platform for Indiarsquos new pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Tressa Jolly to showcase their talent A medal could be the perfect launch for their careers In the mixed doubles Indiarsquos Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponappa have the experience and wherewithal to create upsets but need to be must faster on the court