Satwik-Chirag blow as India aim for history

Ningbo: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have withdrawn from the Badminton Asia Championships due to the former’s shoulder injury, even as in-form Lakshya Sen and seasoned PV Sindhu gear up to spearhead India’s challenge with an aim to end a long wait for a singles title in the continental showpiece.

Satwik and Chirag, who had won the title in 2023, opted out as the former continues to recover.

“Satwik still has some pain, so they won’t be playing this week,” coach Tan Kim Her said.

The duo had earlier pulled out of the Swiss Open ahead of their quarterfinal match due to a recurring right shoulder injury to Satwik.

India will now rely on Lakshya and Sindhu in singles, with both looking to end the country’s 61-year wait for a title in the discipline.

Former national champion Dinesh Khanna remains the only Indian to win the men’s singles gold at the continental meet in 1965, and Lakshya will be keen to follow in his footsteps after a runner-up finish at the All England Championships.

The 24-year-old will open his campaign against Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu. Sindhu, meanwhile, returns after a disrupted European leg. The two-time Olympic medallist was stranded in Dubai en route to the All England Championships due to the conflict in West Asia, forcing her withdrawal. She subsequently skipped the Swiss Open to recover and will begin her campaign against Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ching.

India will also have a busy men’s singles slate, with HS Prannoy, returning after recovering from a shoulder injury, set to face a qualifier, while Kidambi Srikanth takes on Singapore’s eighth seed Loh Kean Yew. US Open champion Ayush Shetty faces China’s fifth seed Li Shi Feng. In women’s singles, apart from Sindhu, Unnati Hooda meets Supanida Katethong.