With the likes of PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy leaܫding the ranks, they will face a stern challenge from Commonwealth Games champions Malaysia against whom they lost in Birmingham. The other team is host UAE.
Spearheaded by a fit-again and rejuvenated PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy, India will fancy their chances against Kazakhstan in their opening Group B tie at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships 2023, starting in Dubai on Tuesday. (More Badminton News)
Two-time Olympic medallist and world No.7 Sindhu ha💫s recovered completely from a stress fracture that kept her out of action for five months last year and is gun♚ning for success in the new season.
After winning t🌠he gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the injury forced Sindhu to pull out of the World Championships and also missed the remainder of the last season.
Having made a scratchy s🍸tart to the new season in the Malaysia Open and India Open at home, Sindhu is itching for success and wou𒊎ld be going full throttle here.
Sindhu's backup in the women's singles is 32nd-ranked Aakarshi Kashyap, winner of the Bangladesh International Challenꦡge last month.
The men's singles will be led by wo🐟rld No.8 Prannoy and will also have world No.10 Lakshay Sen.
In men's doubles, Chirag Sh꧂etty will partn𒁃er Dhruv Kapila in the absence of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who has pulled out of the event due to a hip injury.
The other Indian pair in the men's doubles is Krishnaꦫ Prasad Garga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Pꦐ.
In Satwik's absence, the men's doubles remainsဣ India's weakest link as it will be very difficult for Kapila to pair up with Shetty and deliver against the top men's combinations of other Asian countries.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will be the lead pair in women's doubles and will also have Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam as back-up. Ishaan ඣBhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto will🤡 be the only Indian pair to shoulder the mixed doubles duties.
Players ranked in the ♓top-10 received direct entries, while the rest of the squad was chosen through s🦂election trials.
India's toughest opponents in the group will be Cꦜommonwealth Games champions Malaysia against whom they lost in Birmingham. The other team is host UAE.
The top two teams from each of the four groups will qualif🐽y for the quarter-finals and, barring upsets, India and Malaysia ✤are expected to progress from Group B.
But the topper of the group will be decided after India's second tie, which is against Malaysia on Wednesday before they round off th🌺eir league engagements against UAE on Thursday.
Lakshya Sen expects India to sail int✃o the quarter-finals.
"We have a strong team. The draw of group stage is okay, should not be difficult. I think we can qua🃏lify for the quarter-final. In knockout, it will be one match at a time," Sen told PTI.
In the inaugural edition of the tournamen꧒t in 2017, India made the quarter-finals, while in 2019 they failed to get past the group stage.
The tournament returns after three ye🔜ars as the 2021 edition was cancelled 🔯due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seventeen countries will fight it out for the continental crown in theꩵ event to be held from February 14 to 19 aꦬt the Dubai Exhibition Centre.
China, Japan,♛ Indonesia, and Malaysia are the top four seeds in the 💙tournament.