What’s the story?
Much to the disappointment of Indian badminton fans, the country’s two shuttle queens – Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu – have pulled out of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship, scheduled to be held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from February 14-19. With the hectic Superseries season set to begin next month, they have opted for more rest and India’s challenge will thus be led by a crop of talented youngsters.
“We asked them (Saina and Sindhu), but they wanted to take rest ahead of bigger tournaments. This will be a good exposure trip for the younger girls, who are also coming up really well,” Akhilesh Das Gupta, Badminton Association of India (BAI) president said, as quoted by the New Indian Express.
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Saina and Sindhu started 2017 by winning a Grand Prix Gold title each and have been very cautious about planning the rest of the season. For Saina especially, rest is of paramount importance as she underwent a knee surgery in September and had been aiming to regain full fitness before the Superseries season.
She had even withdrawn from the German Grand Prix Gold which is to be held at the end of February.
The heart of the matter
Despite the absence of Nehwal and Sindhu, India still has a strong presence at the inaugural Mixed Team Championships. The men’s singles challenge will be spearheaded by the Syed Modi International champion Sameer Verma and Swiss Open winner HS Prannoy.
Ashwini Ponnappa’s wealth of experience will come in handy in women’s doubles where she will team up with Sikki Reddy, besides playing mixed alongside Sumeeth Reddy. India also has the World No. 14 mixed doubles pair of Sikki and Pranaav Jerry Chopra, who can do a lot of damage. The 60th ranked team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and K Maneesha too will be there.
In men’s doubles, India’s leading teams will be that of Manu Attri-Sumeeth Reddy and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
Tanvi Lad and the recently-crowned Indian national champion Rituparna Das will be the women’s singles shuttlers representing India.
What’s next?
The Indian contingent will look to fight it out with Singapore and Korea in the group stage, beginning February 14.
Sportskeeda’s take
Saina and Sindhu’s presence would have surely bolstered India’s chances but it should not come at the cost of their fitness. This was the only break possible for both as they aim for the sport’s biggest prizes.
Besides, this rare opportunity will surely prove to be very valuable for the young brigade and it might inspire them to cause a few upsets too.
