What's the story?
Indian badminton fans might not have to wait for a long time to see the country’s two shuttle queens in action. Both Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu are on the entry list of the team that will represent India at the 2017 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships, which is scheduled to be held in Vietnam from February 14-19.
The two golden girls will get support from Tanvi Lad and rising talent, Rituparna Das. The men’s singles challenge will be led by HS Prannoy and the recently-crowned Syed Modi International champion Sameer Verma. Srikanth Kidambi, who lost in the semi-finals of the same tournament, is the notable absentee as he has opted to take time off this month.
India has most of its top stars in the doubles section. Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy, who conquered the Syed Modi International, are in the squad and so is Ashwini Ponnappa. In men’s doubles, India’s No. 1 pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, as well as the very talented teenage pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are present.
The team has also been strengthened by the addition of K Maneesha with whom the 16-year-old Rankireddy had a lot of success last year.
In case you didn’t know..
This is the first time that this event is being held.
The heart of the matter
13 teams will be vying for the title at this continental mixed team event. China, Korea, Japan and Malaysia form the top four seeds and they have been spread across four groups. India will get tough competition in Group D from Korea and Singapore.
The draw for group stage:
Group A – China, Chinese Taipei, Hong KongGroup B – Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri LankaGroup C – Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, PhilippinesGroup D – Korea, India, Singapore
What's next?
Team India will begin its title hunt on February 14.
Sportskeeda’s take
China is the overwhelming favourite to win this inaugural mixed team championships event and reassert their dominance in badminton in the continent. But if Saina and Sindhu both play, India can spring quite a few surprises.
Both the golden girls have started the 2017 season with Grand Prix Gold titles and have been very impressive. In doubles too, India has been making rapid strides with the mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy breaking into the top 15. So, India definitely can prove to be very competitive.
