NEW DELHI: Due to fitness concerns, Saina Nehwal, a two-time winner at the Commonwealth Games, will not take part in the national badminton selection trials for the forthcoming Asian Games.
At the Jwala Gutta Academy of Excellence in Telangana, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) will hold a trial from May 4 to May 7 in order to select the team for the prestigious competition, which will be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.
Saina Nehwal won’t be competing because of her fitness difficulties. Additionally, the men’s team of Kushal Raj and Prakash Raj withdrew from the trials, according to BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra, who spoke to PTI.
However, the remaining players who were invited to the trials will be vying for the positions this week.
Saina most recently competed in the Orleans Masters. The former world number one missed the tryouts for the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in January due to ongoing injuries. She had also missed the Commonwealth Games trials the previous year.
PV Sindhu (World No. 11), HS Prannoy (World No. 9), Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (World No. 6), Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand (World No. 19), and HS Prannoy were all directly chosen by BAI for the Asian Games “based on their placing in the BWF Top 20 ranking list as of April 18”.
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On April 22, the national federation released a list of participants for the Asian Games trials, designating April 28 as the start date.
The nine men’s singles competitors who will compete in the trials include Kidambi Srikanth, the World No. 23, who won the silver and bronze medals at the World Championships, Lakshya Sen, the World No. 24, who won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, Priyanshu Rajawat, the national champion Mithun Manjunath, and Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth.
Women’s singles shuttlers Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha, and Unnati Hooda will be present at the trials.
Men’s and women’s singles will each have up to three players chosen, while two mixed doubles pairs, one men’s doubles and one women’s doubles pair, and three men’s doubles and three women’s doubles pairs will all be chosen from the trials.
Players’ list for trials for the Asian Games in 2023:
Men’s Singles: Siddhant Gupta, Maisnam Meiraba, Bharat Raghav, Mithun Manjunath, Kidambi Srikanth, Priyanshu Rajawat, and Lakshya Sen
Aakrshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha, Aditi Bhat, Unnati Hooda, Alisha Naik, Shriyanshi Valishetty, and Anupama Upadhyay are the women’s singles competitors.
MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila, Krishna Prasad/Vishuvardhan, Suraj Goala/Pruthvi Roy, and Nithin HV/Sai Pratheek are the men’s doubles competitors.
Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautham, Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponnappa, and Radhika Sharma/Tanvi Sharma are three women’s doubles teams.
Mixed Doubles: Hemagendra Babu/Kanika Kanwal, Sai Pratheek/Tanisha Crasto, Hariharan/Varshini, and Sikki Reddy
