With out the companies of an injured PV Sindhu, India will face an uphill activity in pursuit of an elusive gold medal on the Badminton Asia Combined Staff Championships which will get underway right here on Tuesday.
India hopes to enhance on its bronze medal end from the earlier version the place Sindhu performed a key function in Dubai two years in the past. Her absence this yr attributable to an damage will probably be a major setback because the staff embarks on its marketing campaign within the prestigious biennial occasion.
Sindhu sustained a hamstring damage throughout a pre-tournament coaching camp in Guwahati on February 4, forcing her to withdraw from the match on the final minute, placing the onus on world No. 29 Malvika Bansod to step up in ladies’s singles.
Positioned in Group D, India will open its marketing campaign towards Macau on Wednesday, adopted by a conflict with a powerful Korean outfit on Thursday. A top-two end within the group will safe a spot within the quarterfinals, and whereas India is prone to progress to the final eight, advancing additional would require distinctive performances from the squad.
MORE DETAILS | Sindhu pulls out of Badminton Asia Combined Staff C’ships
Whereas India has by no means gained the gold on the Asia Combined Staff Championships, they did safe combined staff gold and silver on the Commonwealth Video games in 2018 and 2022.
India has had notable success in current staff occasions, together with its first-ever Thomas Cup gold in 2022, the 2024 Badminton Asia Staff Championships silver in Malaysia, and a historic males’s silver on the Hangzhou Asian Video games.
The staff options many key gamers from these victories, together with HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Ashwini Ponnappa, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, and Chirag Shetty, with all eyes on them to place up an impressed efficiency.
Whereas Satwik and Chirag have been per semifinal finishes on the Malaysia Open and India Open, Prannoy has been troubled by niggles after returning to motion following the Olympics, the place he was affected by a pre-tournament chikungunya bout. Syed Modi champion Lakshya, alternatively, has endured a couple of first-round exits this season and might want to regain his kind rapidly.
As expectations will probably be excessive for the boys’s singles and males’s doubles, India additionally boasts energy in ladies’s doubles, with Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly repeatedly showcasing their abilities. The duo not too long ago broke into the world’s high 10 on the again of their maiden Tremendous 300 title run at Lucknow and qualifying on the BWF World Tour occasion final yr.
Including to the expertise is Ponnappa, who competed on the Paris Olympics alongside younger Tanisha Crasto. The duo gained the Guwahati Masters Tremendous 100 final December and can look to place up a superb present right here.
The combined doubles pair of Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath may even carry confidence into their first staff occasion, coming off a gold medal on the Nationwide Video games in Dehradun earlier this month.
China clinched the title in 2023 and 2019, whereas Japan emerged as champions within the inaugural version in 2017. The occasion was not held in 2021 as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.