Badminton Asia Championships 2023: Which Indian players will be in action
Top Indian badminton players including PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and Saina Nehwal will be some of the Indians in action at the Badminton Asia Championships 2023.
The prestigious tournament is scheduled to be held at the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Al Nasr Club in Dubai. It will commence on April 25 and the finals will be played on April 30.
Only four Indians have got themselves a billing at the Badminton Asia Championships 2023. The list includes Sindhu, Prannoy and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
Sindhu is seeded eighth in the women's singles category, while Prannoy is seeded eighth in the men's singles category. Satwik and Chirag are the sixth seeds in the men's doubles category.
This is the 40th edition of the tournament, and India have won 17 medals, including one gold medal, in men's singles, at the event.
Indian players in action at the Badminton Asia Championships 2023
India's PV Sindhu will open her Badminton Asia Championships 2023 title quest against World No. 17 Wen Chi Hsu. Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal will lock horns with the winner of Qualifying Group B, comprising Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi (INA), Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq (MDV) and Kamila Smagulova (KAZ).
Promising youngster Malvika Bansod has received a tough opening draw as she will be up against Akane Yamaguchi, the top seed and last year's finalist. Similarly, Aakarshi Kashyap will also brace for a difficult opener as she will play seventh seed Ratchanok Intanon in the first round.
One of India's top promising shuttlers, Lakshya Sen, has drawn seventh seed Loh Kean Yew in the opening round. Meanwhile, Prannoy will meet Phone Pyae Naing and Kidambi Srikanth will face Adnan Ebrahim.
In the men's doubles category, Swiss Open champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will meet World No. 44 Tan Kian Meng and Tan Wee Kiong. The pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala will take on fourth seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.
MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila have been drawn to meet eighth seeds ONG Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi in the first round of the Badminton Asia Championships 2023.
In the women's doubles, Commonwealth Games bronze medalists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will face Indonesia’s Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribka Sugiarto. Elsewhere, Ashwini Bhat K and Shikha Gautam will be up against another Indonesian pair, Meilysa Trias Puspitasari and Rachel Allessya Rose.
No Indian pair have received a direct entry into the main draw of mixed doubles. The pairs of Ashwini Ponnappa-Sumeeth Reddy, Juhi Dewangan-Venkat Gaurav Prasad, Rohan Kapoor-Sikki Reddy, and Nithin HV-Poorvisha S Ram will play the qualifiers for a place in the main draw of the tournament.
Schedule of Badminton Asia Championships 2023
Group stage: Tuesday, April 25.
Round 1: Wednesday, April 26.
Round 2: Thursday, April 27.
Quarterfinals: Friday, April 28.
Semifinals: Saturday, April 29.
Finals: Sunday, April 30.
In India, the Badminton Asia Championships 2023 will be broadcast live on Sony Sports TEN 2 channel and live streamed on SonyLIV platform.