Lakshya Sen, Malvika Bansod to lead Indian team at next month’s Badminton Asia Team Championships

Malvika Bansod and Lakshya Sen will lead the Indian men’s and women’s team in the Badminton Asia Team Championships to be played at Shah Alam, Malaysia next month.

Syed Modi International finalist Malvika Bansod and Indian Open champion Lakshya Sen will spearhead India’s challenge at the biennial tournament. It will be held from February 15-20.

Malvika Bansod, who was also selected in the squad last year, has been in splendid form this season. Nagpur shuttler Malvika reached the final of the Syed Modi tournament last week.

Malvika also entered the semifinals of the ongoing Odisha Open. In-form southpaw Malvika reached the Indian Open quarterfinals after beating Saina Nehwal.

Assam's Ashmita Chaliha will play one of the women's singles matches in the tournament

Senior players not part of the team

Senior players like PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth are not part of the team. Ace men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also do not feature in the squad.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) announced a new-look team for the continental team championship. The team was finalized given the importance of the performances in the two All India Ranking tournaments played in Chennai and Hyderabad last month. The players were selected on the basis of aggregate ranking points scored in the two events.

“We have been considering domestic tournaments for selection for a while now and selecting players in the top-25 world ranking directly. But with the most senior players recovering from COVID-19 and injury, it is a good opportunity for us to give the bench strength opportunities to make their mark in the tournament,” BAI secretary Ajay Singhania said in a statement.

The men’s team had won the bronze medal in the last edition of the tournament in Manila, Philippines. The women’s team was withdrawn due to the Covid pandemic as most players were not willing to travel then.

Four singles and three doubles pairs in the team: BAI

The men’s doubles charge will be led by Kerala’s PS Ravi Krishna and Udaykumar Shankarprasad. The talented duo impressed with their performance against the experienced Malaysian combination of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi at the Indian Open.

The combination of Simran Singhi and Khushi Gupta along with the experienced Aarthi Sara Sunil and Riza Mahreen will look to make a mark in women’s doubles.