India Open winner, Lakshya Sen, and Syed Modi International finalist, Malvika Bansod will be leading the Indian men’s and women’s teams at the Badminton Asia Team Championships, held at Shah Alam, Malaysia from February 15-20.
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has declared a new-look team for the championship giving importance to the performances in the two All India Ranking tournaments, played in Chennai and Hyderabad last month.
The players have been picked based on aggregate ranking points scored in the two events.
BAI secretary, Ajay Singhania said that they have considering domestic tournaments for selection for a while now and selecting players in the top 25 world ranking. But with the most senior players recovering from COVID-19 and injury, it is a good opportunity for them to provide the bench strength opportunities to set up their place in the tournament.
At the last edition of the tournament in Manila, Philippines, the men’s team had won the bronze medal, whereas the women’s team was withdrawn due to the pandemic, as many players were not ready to travel then.
The men’s double charge is going to be led by Kerela’s PS Ravi Krishna and Udaykumar Shankarprasad, who had impressed with their performances against the experienced Malaysian duo of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi at the India Open.
Simran Singhi and Khushi Gupta combination along with the experienced Aarthi Sara Sunil and Riza Mahreen would seem to make a mark in women’s doubles.
Teams
Men’s singles: Lakshya Sen, Mithun Manjunath, Kiran George, Raghu M, Doubles: PS Ravi Krishna-Udaykumar Shankarprasad, Amsakarunan Hariharan-Ruban Kumar, Dingku Singh Konthoujam-Manjit Singh Khwairakpam.
Women’s singles: Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap, Ashmita Chaliha, Tara Shah
Doubles: Simran Singhi-Khushi Gupta, V Nila-Arubala, Aarthi Sara Sunil-Riza Mahreen.