As they begin their campaigns in the main draw of the Asia Badminton Championships in Dubai on Wednesday, top Indian shuttlers, including double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, will seek to establish their groove. The qualifying rounds for the 40th edition of the famed continental championship began on Tuesday, but the main draw, which will feature all of the top players, won’t begin until Wednesday. India’s chances of bringing home a medal are slim given that most of the elite athletes have had trouble with their form and rhythm this year.
Dinesh Khanna earned the only gold medal for India at ABC in 1965. To end the country’s championship drought, athletes like Sindhu, Prannoy, and Lakshya will need to compete at the top of their games.
When she reached the finals of the Madrid Spain Masters while making her comeback from a protracted injury layoff, Sindhu demonstrated some promise. The eighth-seeded Indian will seek to bring her “A” game when she opens her season against Taiwanese Wen Chi-hsu.
The ninth-ranked player in the world in men’s singles, HS Prannoy, has been reliable and will try to prepare for the tougher matches with a strong performance against Phone Pyae Naing of Myanmar in the first round, while Kidambi Srikanth, who won silver at the 2021 World Championships, will face Adnan Ebrahim of Bahrain.
Lakshya Sen, a former world number six, went through a trying time in 2023 as his ranking fell as a result of numerous early exits, prompting the Indian to take a vacation.
The former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore stands in the way of the Commonwealth Games champion in the first round, making it difficult for him to advance.
Malvika Bansod, the top seed and last year’s finalist in women’s singles, will compete against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, while Aakarshi Kashyap will take against Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi of Indonesia.
The sixth-seeded men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who won the Swiss Open Super 300 titles earlier this year, will face Tan Kian Meng and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia in the opening round.
In addition to MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, the conflict also involves Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala.
The bronze-medal winning women’s doubles team from the Commonwealth Games, Treesa Jolly, and Gayatri Gopichand, will compete against Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribka Sugiarto from Indonesia.
Ashwini Bhat, Shikha Gautam, Haritha Manazhiyil, and Ashna Roy are all involved in the conflict.
