Led by World Championships bronze-medallist Lakshya Sen and in-form Malvika Bansod, India's young badminton players are set to have a good show at the Badminton Asia Team Championships starting on Tuesday.
The Indian women's and men's teams are looking to start with a win on the first day against Korea and host Malaysia respectively. With senior players not playing, the entire burden is going to be on the youth. Sen, who is an India Open winner, is also going to lead the men's team. Kiran George and Mithun Manjunath are also scheduled to play lead roles in the tournament. The men's team has also been placed in Group A along with three-time champions Indonesia, Hong Kong and Korea.
Kiran had won the first Worldtour title in Odisha Super 100, while Manjunath Had reached the semi-finals of Syed Modi Super 300. Raghu Mariswamy is also said to be the fourth singles player. In doubles, Ravikrishna PS and Shankar Prasad Udayakumar had advanced to the finals in Odisha last month. Manjeet Singh and Dinku Singh Konthujam will also be expected to do well who managed to reach the semi-finals at the Bahrain International.
In the women's section, Malvika, Aakrishi Kashyap and Ashmita Chaliha, who play the Syed Modi International Final, are set to present the challenge. India has been placed in Group B along with Malaysia and defending champions Japan. The top two teams from both groups are due to reach the semi-finals and are also set to make it to the Thomas Cup to be held in Bangkok from May 17 to 22. The Indian men's team has won the bronze medal twice, while the women's team has never won a medal so far.
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