Indian Badminton Team faces stiff hurdle in their quest for a medal

The Asian Games 2018 are scheduled to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia from August 18. The Badminton event starts with the team events for both men and women. The events are scheduled to take place at Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta from Aug 19-22.

The draws for the team event were held yesterday and India have been handed a tough draw in both men's and women's team event.

Team Event - Men

The Indian men's team is scheduled to play the Maldives in their first match which should be a comfortable victory. But they have been drawn to play the second seed Indonesia in the quarterfinals.

The team event comprises three singles event and two doubles event. Going by the current rankings and head to head it does seem to be a tough task to get past the Indonesians.

First Singles: India's Kidambi Srikanth (8) against Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (12) or Jonatan Christie (15) or Ihsan Maulana Mustofa (39)

Srikanth leads the head to head record 2-1 against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, with the last 2 encounters in his favour in straight sets. The last meeting though was in 2017.

Srikanth has a 2-2 record against Jonatan Christie, with a straight sets defeat in the Asian Badminton Championships in 2018.

Srikanth has a 1-1 record against Ihsan Maulana Mustofa. Their last meeting was in 2017 which went to 3 sets.

Second Singles: India's H.S. Prannoy (11) against Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (12) or Jonatan Christie (15) or Ihsan Maulana Mustofa (39)

H.S. Prannoy leads the head to head record 1-0 against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, a straight-sets victory in the 2017 Indonesian open.

H.S. Prannoy has never played against Jonatan Christie.

H.S. Prannoy has a 0-1 record against Ihsan Maulana Mustofa. He lost the match in 3 sets way back in the 2015 Macau Open.

Third Singles: India's Sameer Verma (21) or B. Sai Praneeth (23) against Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (12) or Jonatan Christie (15) or Ihsan Maulana Mustofa (39)

Sameer Verma has a 1-1 record against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, the last meeting being a loss in 3 sets at the 2016 Australian Open.

B. Sai Praneeth leads the head to head record 2-1 against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, a straight-sets victory in the Asian Badminton Championships in 2018..

Sameer Verma has a 1-0 record against Jonatan Christie. But the last meeting was in the 2015 Vietnam Open.

B. Sai Praneeth has a 1-1 record against Jonatan Christie. But the last meeting was a defeat to the Indian in 3 sets at the 201 New Zealand Open.

Sameer Verma has a 1-0 record against Ihsan Maulana Mustofa. He won in 3 sets in the 2016 Australian Open.

B. Sai Praneeth has never played against Ihsan Maulana Mustofa.

First Doubles: India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (22) vs Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (1). The head to head record is 0-3 in straight sets with the last meeting at the 2018 Indonesian Open.

India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (22) vs Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto (9). The head to head record is 0-1 in straight sets with the last meeting at the 2017 Indonesian Open.

Second Doubles: India's B. Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri (28) vs Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (1). The head to head record is 0-3, with the last meeting at the 2018 Indian Open.

India's B. Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri (28) vs Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto (9). They have never played against each other.

Looking at the above stats and the current form in the recent games we need to keep our fingers crossed and hope that our shuttlers peak at the Asian Games. The best bet for us is to win the three singles and let's hope they do it for our nation.

Team Event - Women

The Indian Women's team has been given a bye in the first round. But they have been drawn to play the top seeds Japan in the quarterfinals.

Sindhu is determined to get a medal for India

First Singles: India's P.V. Sindhu (3) against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi (2) or Nozomi Okuhara (8) or Sayaka Sato (16).

P.V. Sindhu leads the head to head record 7-4 against Akane Yamaguchi, the last encounter a straight-set victory at the 2018 World Championships.

P.V. Sindhu has a 6-6 record against Nozomi Okuhara, the last encounter a straight-set victory at the 2018 World Championships.

P.V. Sindhu has a 3-1 record against Sayaka Sato. Their last meeting was in 2017 Dubai Superseries.

Second Singles: India's Saina Nehwal (10) against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi (2) or Nozomi Okuhara (8) or Sayaka Sato (16).

Saina Nehwal leads the head to head record 1-6 against Akane Yamaguchi, 5 straight defeats with the last meeting at the 2018 Malaysian Open.

Saina Nehwal leads the head to head record 6-2 against Nozomi Okuhara, the last meeting was a defeat at the 2017 World Championships.

Saina Nehwal has a 6-2 record against Sayaka Sato. Their last meeting ended in a defeat at the 2017 Asia Championships.

Third Singles: India's Sai Uttejitha Rao (105) against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi (2) or Nozomi Okuhara (8) or Sayaka Sato (16).

Sai Uttejitha Rao has never played against the top Japanese players.

First Doubles: India's Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy (30) vs Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota (1). The head to head record is 0-1 in straight sets at the 2018 World Championships.

India's Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy vs Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi. The head to head record is 0-5 in straight sets with the last meeting at the 2018 All England Open.

Second Doubles: The Indian team for the second doubles can either be Rutaparna Panda and Arathi Sara Sunil or could be a scratch combination of Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu.

Looking at the above stats and the current form in the recent games we hope to pull off 2 singles in our kitty. And only if our doubles team can stage an upset victory we can hope to progress.