The draw of the Asian Badminton Team Championships was announced on Tuesday. Indian men’s and women’s teams are participating in the tournament and both squads consist of some of the best players of the game.
The men’s team is in a fairly easy group (Group D) alongside Indonesia, Philipines and Maldives whereas the women’s squad is in Group W which comprises heavyweight Japan while Hong Kong is the other team completing the pool.
After narrowly missing out on a spot at the semi-finals of the Asian Badminton Team Championships last year, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) have decided to field a formidable line up for this year’s edition in Malaysia which will start from February 6 and end on February 11.
The respective teams include the likes of 2016 Olympic silver medalist P.V Sindhu, 2012 London Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal, World No. 3 Kidambi Srikanth and World No. 10 H.S Prannoy, among others.
Leading India’s charge in the men’s singles category will be the third-ranked Indian in the world, Kidambi Srikanth and will have a strong back up from H.S Prannoy, Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma who have proven that they can win against the best in the world on a given day.
In the women’s singles category, P.V Sindhu will take the baton in her hands along with Saina Nehwal and Krishna Priya and Ruthvika Gaade will also watch from close quarters.
While the doubles contingent will include the prodigious pairing of Satwik Sairaj/Chirag Shetty, World No. 32 Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy and Shlok Ramachandran/M.R Arjun, Ashwini Ponappa/Sikki Reddy will be handed the mantle in the women’s doubles section and will be backed up by Prajakta Sawant/ Sanyogita and Rituparna Das/Mithila U K.
Men's team draw
Group A: China, Hong Kong, Singapore
Group B: Japan, Korea, Nepal, Kazakhstan.
Group C: Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar
Group D: Indonesia, India, Philippines, Maldives.
Women's team Draw
Group W: Japan, India, Hong Kong.
Group X: Korea Chinese Taipei, Maldives.
Group Y: Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines,
Group Z: China, Indonesia, Singapore.
Indian contingent
Men's singles
Kidambi Srikanth
H.S Prannoy
Sai Praneeth
Sameer Verma
Women's sigles
P.V Sindhu
Saina Nehwal
Krishna Priya
Ruthvika Gaade
Men's doubles
Satwik Sairaj/Chirag Shetty
Manu Attri/ Sumeeth Reddy
Shlok Ramachandran/ M.R Arjun
Women's doubles
Ashwini Ponappa/ Sikki Reddy
Prajakta Sawant/ Sanyogita
Rituparna Das/ Mithila U.K