The competition this week is extra intense because it’s the final chance for athletes to earn points for Olympic qualification. This means we can expect some really exciting matches between the best players.
Top Indian badminton players, like PV Sindhu, will have a challenging competition ahead as they start competing for medals at the Badminton Asia Championships. The tournament kicks off with the qualifiers on Tuesday.
The top-ranked pair and defending champions, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, decided to pull out at the last minute. Even though this might make the competition less exciting, it means that individual players will need to step up their game during the continental championships.
This tournament is crucial because it’s the final chance for players to earn points for Olympic qualification. This adds extra intensity to the matches, and we can expect some intense battles between the best players this week.
Sindhu, who has won two Olympic medals, recently played really well against Tokyo Games gold medalist Chen Yufei in the French Open quarterfinals. Even though she didn’t win, taking it to three games showed she’s getting back into form.
She’s been making a comeback after being injured. But in the Spain Masters, she got upset after losing a close match to Supanida Katethong from Thailand. She even smashed her racquet in frustration.
Sindhu is still improving, and this week she will have another chance to see how well she’s doing in a competition. Some really good players will be there, like An Seyoung, Chen Yufei, Tai Tzu-Ying, Akane Yamaguchi, and He Bingjiao.
But Sindhu is mainly focusing on her first match against Goh Jin Wei from Malaysia, who is ranked 33rd in the world. Sindhu has beaten her four times before, so if she wins again, she might face Han Yue from China, who is the sixth seed. Sindhu has beaten her recently in February at the Badminton Asia Team Championships.
If she can pass the first challenge, she might have to play against either Japan’s Yamaguchi or Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon next.
Aakarshi Kashyap is another Indian player in the women’s singles. She will start her match against Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
In the men’s singles, Lakshya Sen has had some good matches. He almost secured his spot in the Paris tournament after doing well in the French Open and All England Championships. Now, he faces a tough challenge against the top player, Shi Yu Qi from China.
Lakshya did really well in the Asian Games before. He beat Chinese players when he played for his team. This gives him confidence and motivation for his upcoming matches.
Seventh-ranked HS Prannoy, who won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships, will compete against China’s Lu Guang Zu. Prannoy has been dealing with a stomach problem and hasn’t been performing well this season. He hasn’t beaten Lu Guang Zu in their previous matches, so he’s aiming to win this time and make up for his past losses.
World’s 27th-ranked badminton player, Kidambi Srikanth, didn’t qualify for the Paris tournament because he hasn’t been playing well lately. He’s got a tough match ahead against the world’s third-ranked player, Anthony Ginting, who’s also the second seed. Ginting recently made it to the finals of the All England Championships.
A young Indian badminton player, Priyanshu Rajawat, will play against Lee Zii Jia from Malaysia in the first round.
With Satwik-Chirag not participating, Indian players MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will aim to do well in their match against the seventh-seeded Chinese duo, Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi. Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek K are also competing in the tournament.
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, who are doing well in the Olympic competition, will play against the Indonesian team of Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi. Meanwhile, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will compete against the Chinese team of Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning, who are ranked fourth.
