Badminton Asia Champ: Sindhu, Saina & Prannoy to lead India's challenge

DUBAI: India will be virtually full strength in the women's singles with their two best players, Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal leading the campaign at the Badminton Asia Championships 2023 starting here on Tuesday.

Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap are the other Indian players in the fray in the women's singles category in the event that will be played at the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Al Nasr Club in Dubai. The finals will be played on April 30.

In the men's singles category, the Indian campaign will be led by HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be India's main hope in the men's doubles while the young pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly will be in focus in the women's doubles section of the 40th edition of Badminton Asia Championships which will be held for the first time in the Middle East.

Two-time Olympic Games medallist Sindhu, who reached the women's singles final of the Madrid Spain Masters 2023 earlier this month, is seeded eight in the singles category.

As per the draw, world No. 11 Sindhu will face Chinese Taipei's Wen Chi Hsu in the opening match. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, ranked 29, will play a qualifier in the first round.

HS Prannoy is seeded eighth in the men's singles category. In the men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are seeded sixth.

In the men's singles, world No. 9 Prannoy will take on Myanmar's Phone Pyae Naing in the first round. Lakshya Sen, world No. 24, will be up against seventh seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore. World No. 23 Kidambi Srikanth will play his first-round match against Bahrain's Adnan Ebrahim, said a report on Olympics.com.

In the men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who claimed the Swiss Open crown recently, will open their campaign against Malaysia's Tan Kian Meng and Tan Wee Kiong.

In the women's doubles, Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly will play Lanny Mayasari and Ribika Sugiarto of Indonesia in the first round.