Lakshya, Malvika to lead Indian team

NEW DELHI, Jan 29: India Open champion Lakshya Sen and Syed Modi International finalist Malvika Bansod will lead the Indian men’s and women’s squad in the Badminton Asia Team Championships to be held at Shah Alam, Malaysia from Feb 15-20.
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) announced a new look team for the continental team championship giving importance to the performances in the two All India Ranking tournaments played in Chennai and Hyderabad last month. Players were selected on the basis of aggregate ranking points scored in the two events.
“We have been considering domestic tournaments for selection for a while now and selecting players in the top-25 world ranking directly. But with most senior players recovering from Covid and injury, it is a good opportunity for us to give the bench strength opportunities to make their mark in the tournament,” BAI secretary Ajay Singhania said.
Men’s Singles: Lakshya Sen, Mithun Manjunath, Kiran George, Raghu M Doubles: PS Ravi Krishna/UdayKumar ShankarPrasad, Amsakarunan Hariharan/Ruban Kumar, Dingku Singh Konthoujam/Manjit Singh Khwairakpam.
Women’s Singles: Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap, Ashmita Chaliha, Tara Shah Doubles: Simran Singhi/Khushi Gupta, V Nila/Arubala, Aarthi Sara Sunil/Riza Mahreen. (PTI)