As part of its preparation for the Li Ning BWF Thomas and Uber Cups Finals to be held at the Siri Fort Sports Complex from May 18-25, the Indian team will conduct a special camp from May 7 here under the guidance of chief national coach Pullela Gopichand.
A 30-member core team will prepare for the upcoming tournament. Out of those 30, 10 men and 10 women would be picked later in the week.
"India is hosting the Thomas/Uber Cup finals for the first time and we want to put our best foot forward. So we decided to make most of the home conditions and hold the camp in New Delhi itself so that the players would get acclimatised to the playing conditions and temperatures here," Badminton Association of India president, Akhilesh Das Gupta said.
In the Thomas Cup competition for men, India have been grouped with Malaysia, Germany and Korea in a virtual group of death, while the women face Thailand, Canada and Hong Kong in Group C for the Uber Cup competition.
While the team and coaches are aware that qualifying for the knockout round won't be easy in the Thomas Cup, they are banking on the women to create history by reaching the last eight for the first time in the tournament.
Indian women have managed to qualify for the tournament proper for only the second time in over four decades and reaching the quarter-finals would be in the realm of possibility given the fact that India now boast of two singles players -- Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu -- who are among the top-10.
The format of the tournament is such that each match consists of three singles and two doubles rubbers.
Gopichand said both the teams were upbeat about the prospects and look forward to putting up a grand show.
"I don't want to predict where we will reach in the tournament at this stage. But I can promise you that the teams would give their best in every match to justify our rising status. We know it will be tough against higher ranked teams in the Thomas Cup, but we assure you of a cent percent effort in group stages," he said.
