Two-time Commonwealth Games champion Saina Nehwal has withdrawn from the national badminton selections trials for the upcoming Asian Games due to fitness issues. The Badminton Association of India (BAI) will be conducting the trial from May 4 to 7 at Jwala Gutta Academy of Excellence in Telangana to pick the team for the prestigious tournament, which will be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.
Saina’s Fitness Issues
“Saina Nehwal will not be participating as she has some fitness issues. Also, the men’s pair of Kushal Raj and Prakash Raj has also withdrawn from the trials,” said BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra. Saina, who last played at the Orleans Masters, has been battling injuries for quite some time. The former world number one had also skipped the trials for Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in January and had missed the trials for the Commonwealth Games last year.
BAI selects players based on BWF Top 20 ranking list for Asian Games
BAI had directly selected double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu (World No. 11), HS Prannoy (world no. 9), men’s pairing of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (World No. 6) and women’s combination of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand (world no. 19) for the Asian Games “based on their placing in the BWF Top 20 ranking list as on April 18”.
The national federation had come out with a list of players for the Asian Games selection trials on April 22, setting April 28 as the deadline for confirmation. World championships silver and bronze medallists Kidambi Srikanth (World No. 23) and Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen (World No. 24), Orleans Masters Super 300 winner Priyanshu Rajawat, national champion Mithun Manjunath, and Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth are among the nine men’s singles players who will have to fight it out in the trials. In women’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha, and Unnati Hooda will be among the shuttlers present in the trials.
Selection Process
As many as three players will be selected for men’s singles and women’s singles, while two mixed doubles pairs and one men’s doubles and one women’s doubles pair will be picked from the trials. Rest of the players who were invited for the trials will be competing this week for the spots. BAI’s selection is based on the latest BWF ranking points in both the individual events and the team championship. The selected players will represent India in the upcoming Asian Games to be held in China.
Saina Nehwal’s withdrawal from the Asian Games selection trials is a significant loss for the Indian badminton team. The BAI’s decision to select players based on their BWF Top 20 ranking list ensures that the best players will represent India in the upcoming tournament. The nine men’s singles and four women’s singles players who will compete in the selection trials will have to give their best to earn a spot on the Indian badminton team for the
