Lakshya, Malvika to lead Indian team at Badminton Asia Team Championships

By PTI

NEW DELHI: India Open champion Lakshya Sen and Syed Modi International finalist Malvika Bansod will lead the Indian men’s and women’s squad in the Badminton Asia Team Championships to be played at Shah Alam, Malaysia from February 15-20.

The Badminton Association of India (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.

The players were selected on the basis of aggregate ranking points scored in the two events.

“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,” BAI secretary Ajay Singhania said in a statement.

The men’s team had won the bronze medal in the last edition of the tournament in Manila, Philippines while the women’s team was withdrawn due to the pandemic as most players were not willing to travel then.

The men’s doubles charge will be led by Kerala’s PS Ravi Krishna and Udaykumar Shankarprasad, who also impressed with their performance against the experienced Malaysian combination of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi at the 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’s 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’s singles: Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap, Ashmita Chaliha, Tara Shah Doubles: Simran Singhi/Khushi Gupta, V Nila/Arubala, Aarthi Sara Sunil/Riza Mahreen.