Without the companies of an injured PV Sindhu, India will face an uphill job in pursuit of an elusive gold medal on the Badminton Asia Mixed Team 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 yr as a result of an harm might be a big setback because the group embarks on its marketing campaign within the prestigious biennial occasion.
Sindhu sustained a hamstring harm throughout a pre-tournament coaching camp in Guwahati on February 4, forcing her to withdraw from the event on the final minute. Her unavailability places the onus on world No 29 Malvika Bansod to step up in ladies’s singles.
Placed in Group D, India will open their marketing campaign in opposition to 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.
While India have by no means gained the gold on the Asia Mixed Team Championships, they did safe combined group gold and silver on the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022.
India have had notable success in latest group occasions, together with their first-ever Thomas Cup gold in 2022, the 2024 Badminton Asia Team Championships silver in Malaysia, and a historic males’s silver on the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The group 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.
While 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, then again, has endured just a few first-round exits this season and might want to regain his kind shortly.
As expectations might 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 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 yr.
Adding to the expertise is Ponnappa, who competed on the Paris Olympics alongside younger Tanisha Crasto. The duo gained the Guwahati Masters Super 100 final December and can look to place up an excellent present right here.
The combined doubles pair of Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath will even carry confidence into their first group occasion, coming off a gold medal on the National Games in Dehradun earlier this month.
In the final three editions of the event, 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.Â
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