Former All England champion Pulella Gopichand, whose ranking has slipped considerably because of a persistent knee injury, will miss the World badminton championships, to be held at Birmingham, from July 28 to August 4.

The Indian ace failed to get a driect entry to the tournament since his ranking of 129, as on February 20, did not make the cut-off for the event.

Gopichand's ranking dropped over the past year as the knee injury kept him out of international action.

A 15-day training camp for the Birmingham-bound Indian team begins in Bangalore on July 10.

Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Nikhil Kanetkar and Aparna Popat will represent India at the championships in the singles, while Jaseel Ismail/Jason Xavier, Sanve Thomas/V Diju, and Jawalla Ghutta/Shruti Kurian will play in the doubles.

The draw for the tournament will be announced on July 18. With none of the Indians seeded, they will need plenty of luck to come through the qualifiers.

However, Gopichand will participate in the Indonesian, Malaysian and Singapore Opens, which will be held after the Birmingham event.

UNI