The Khiladix Badminton Asia Championships 2023 is just around the corner, and fans are eagerly anticipating the exciting competition. From April 25th to 30th, the tournament will take place at the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Al Nasr Club in Dubai. This year, the event celebrates its 40th edition, and top players from all over Asia will be vying for the coveted continental championship title.
India’s badminton team has a respectable history at the Badminton Asia Championships, having won a total of 17 medals, including one gold medal in the men’s singles category won by Dinesh Khanna back in 1965. However, this year, the team faces a tough draw, and it may prove challenging to bring home more gold.
Only three Indian players have earned seedings: PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, and the men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Sindhu and Prannoy have received eighth billing in their respective categories, while Satwik and Chirag have been seeded sixth.
Although Sindhu has made a comeback from a five-month injury layoff, her performance hasn’t been up to expectations. In her most recent outing at the Madrid Spain Masters, she made it to the final but lost meekly to Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. In the first round of the Badminton Asia Championships, Sindhu will face World No. 17 Wen Chi Hsu, and she will be hoping to redeem herself from her past performances.
Young Indian players, Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap, have drawn challenging first-round opponents in top seed Akane Yamaguchi and seventh seed Ratchanok Intanon, respectively. Saina Nehwal, on the other hand, will start her campaign against a qualifier. In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen has a tough opening-round match against seventh seed Loh Kean Yew. Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth and Prannoy have relatively easier first-round matches. Prannoy will face Phone Pyae Naing, while Srikanth will face the unheralded Adnan Ebrahim.
. Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala have a challenging match against fourth seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi. Lastly, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will take on eighth seeds ONG Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi. In women’s doubles, the Commonwealth Games bronze medalist duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will play against Indonesia’s Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribka Sugiarto in their opening match.
None of the Indian pairs have been directly entered into the main draw of mixed doubles. However, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sumeeth Reddy, Juhi Dewangan and Venkat Gaurav Prasad, Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy, and Nithin HV and Poorvisha S Ram will be playing in the qualifiers.
The Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Al Nasr Club in Dubai, is known for its top-notch indoor facilities.
