Top Indian shuttlers, including double Olympic titlist PV Sindhu, will hope to find their forms. As they begin their campaign in the main draw of the Asian Championships Crowns, also on Wednesday.
The 40th version of the esteemed International competition is underway also on Tuesday with the qualifying rounds. The main draw including all the top players will be from Wednesday.
It will be a tough task for India to return with an order, considering the ultimate of the top players have been floundering with cadence and form this season.
India has so far won 17 medals at ABC. Dinesh Khanna claimed the gold in 1965.The likes of Sindhu, Prannoy, and Lakshya will have to play out of their ways to break off the title failure and win.
On a comeback process, after a long injury lay-off, Sindhu has shown some spark when she reached the tests of the Madrid Spain Masters. The 8th-seededIndian will be hopeful to find her’ A’ game when she begins her campaign versus Taiwanese Wen Chi-hsu.
(Read Also: P V Sindhu and HS Prannoy will lead India in the Sudirman Cup)
In men’s singles, world number 9 HS Prannoy has been harmonious and he will look to gear up for the bigger battles with a good show in the opening round against Phone Pyae Naing of Myanmar, while 2021 world crowns argentine titlist Kidambi Srikanth will take on Bahrain’s Adnan Ebrahim. Former world number 6 Lakshya Sen has endured a delicate phase in 2023 as his ranking declined after a series of early exits, forcing the Indian to take a break. The Commonwealth Games champ has a difficult journey ahead with former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore standing along with him in the opening round.
In women’s singles, Malvika Bansod will face top seed and last time’s finalist Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, while Aakarshi Kashyap meets Indonesian Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi.
In men’s doubles, the sixth planted brace of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who won the Swiss Open Super 300 titles beforehand this time, will open against the Malaysian combination of Tan Kian Meng and Tan Wee Kiong. Mr. Arjun, Dhruv Kapila, Krishna Prasad Garaga, and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala are also in the fray.
Women’s doubles brace of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, the Commonwealth Games citation medallists, will face Indonesia’s Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribka Sugiarto. Also on the frays are Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam, and Haritha Manazhiyil and Ashna Roy.
