Without the services of an injured PV Sindhu, India will be faced with a difficult task in pursuit of an elusive gold medal at the Mixed Badminton Asia team championships which begins Tuesday in Qingdao, in China. India hopes to improve their bronze finish in the previous edition where Sindhu played a key role in Dubai two years ago. His absence this year due to an injury will be an important setback while the team embarks on their campaign in the prestigious biennial event.
Sindhu underwent a hamstring injury during a training camp before the tournament in Guwahati on February 4, forcing her to withdraw from the tournament at the last minute. Its unavailability puts the field on the world n ° 29 Malvika Bansod to intensify female singles.
Placed in group D, India will open its campaign against Macao on Wednesday, followed by a confrontation with a strong Korean outfit on Thursday. One finish among the first two in the group will obtain a place in the quarter -finals, and although India is likely to switch to the last eight, will progress further will require the team’s exceptional performance.
Although India has never won gold at the mixed team championships in Asia, they secured mixed gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022.
India was a significant success in recent team events, including their very first Gold Thomas Cup in 2022, the badminton team championships in Asia 2024 in Malaysia and historic male money at the Asian games in Hangzhou.
The team features many key players from these victories, including HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Ashwini Ponnappa, Satwiksiraj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, with all eyes on them to set up an inspired performance.
While Satwik and Chirag were compatible with the semi-finals at Malaysia Open and Open India, Prannoy was disturbed by opinions after his return to action after the Olympic Games, where he was hit by a chikungunya button before the tournament. Syed Modris Lakshya champion, on the other hand, endured some outings in the first round this season and will have to find his shape quickly.
Since expectations will be high for singles and male male, India also has the strength of the doubles of women, with Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly presenting their skills several times. The duo recently broke into the top 10 of the world at the back of their first Super 300 title in Lucknow and qualifying at the BWF World Tour event last year.
Ponnappa, who participated in the Paris Olympic Games alongside Young Tanisha Crasto. The duo won the Guwahati Masters Super 100 last December and will try to present a good show here.
The pair of mixed doubles of Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath will also bring confidence in their first team event, leaving a gold medal at the national games in Dehradun earlier this month.
In the last three editions of the tournament, China won the title in 2023 and 2019 while Japan became champion in the inaugural edition in 2017. The event did not take place in 2021 due to the COVVI-19 pandemic.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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