New Delhi: India Open champion Lakshya Sen and Syed Modi International finalist Malvika Bansod will lead the Indian charge in the Asia Team Championships in Malaysia, the Badminton Association of India announced on Saturday. The tournament is to be played from February 15 to 20 at Shah Alam.
The BAI announced a new-look team for the continental team championship giving importance to the performances in the two All India ranking tournaments played in Chennai and Hyderabad last month, selecting players on the basis of aggregate ranking points scored in the two events. BAI Secretary Ajay Singhania said in a statement: “We have been considering domestic tournaments for selection for a while now and selecting players in the top-25 world ranking directly.
“But with most senior players recovering from Covid and injury, it is a good opportunity for us to give the bench strength opportunities to make their mark in the tournament,” he added. The men’s team had won the bronze medal in the last edition of the tournament in Manila while the women’s team was withdrawn as most players were not willing to travel due to the Covid pandemic. The men’s doubles charge will be led by Kerala’s P S Ravi Krishna and Udaykumar Shankarprasad, who are also impressed with their performance against the experienced Malaysian combination of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi at the recently concluded BWF India Open.
The combination of Simran Singhi and Khushi Gupta along with the experienced Aarthi Sara Sunil and Riza Mahreen would look to make a mark in women’s doubles. Teams: Men Singles: Lakshya Sen, Mithun Manjunath, Kiran George, Raghu M Doubles: PS Ravi Krishna/UdayKumar ShankarPrasad, Amsakarunan Hariharan/Ruban Kumar, Dingku Singh Konthoujam/Manjit Singh Khwairakpam Women Singles: Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap, Ashmita Chaliha, Tara Shah Doubles: Simran Singhi/Khushi Gupta, V Nila/Arubala, Aarthi Sara Sunil/Riza Mahreen
