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 in Qingdao, China on Tuesday. India hope to enhance on their bronze medal end from the earlier version the place Sindhu performed a key function in Dubai two years in the past. Her absence this 12 months resulting from an damage shall be a major setback because the crew 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. Her unavailability places the onus on world No 29 Malvika Bansod to step up in ladies’s singles.
Positioned in Group D, India will open their marketing campaign towards Macau on Wednesday, adopted by a conflict with a robust 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.
Whereas India have by no means received the gold on the Asia Combined Staff Championships, they did safe combined crew gold and silver on the Commonwealth Video games in 2018 and 2022.
India have had notable success in latest crew occasions, together with their 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 crew 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 in step with 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 shall be excessive for the lads’s singles and males’s doubles, India additionally boasts power in ladies’s doubles, with Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly repeatedly showcasing their expertise. The duo just lately broke into the world’s prime 10 on the again of their maiden tremendous 300 title run at Lucknow and qualifying on the BWF World Tour occasion final 12 months.
Including to the expertise is Ponnappa, who competed on the Paris Olympics alongside younger Tanisha Crasto. The duo received the Guwahati Masters Tremendous 100 final December and can look to place up present right here.
The combined doubles pair of Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath may also carry confidence into their first crew occasion, coming off a gold medal on the Nationwide Video games in Dehradun earlier this month.
Within the final three editions of the match, 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 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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