Saina Nehwal is optimistic about India’s chances of winning a medal at the Asian Games. She pointed out HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu as some of the players to watch out for in the upcoming edition that will be played in Hangzhou, China. September 23. Saina herself though, will be missing the Asian Games due to an injury.
“All are doing extremely well, they are performing well. Specially HS Prannoy is giving back-to-back good results. Let’s see, there are some tough challenges around them but I feel HS Prannoy is good and of course, PV Sindhu has always done well at the highest tournaments,” said Saina Nehwal to the media at the Global Race 2023 event in Delhi.
Talking about the ups and downs in her and PV Sindhu’s fitness and form, Saina Nehwal said that it is not easy to play at the highest level for so long. “We are playing at the highest level for a long. It is not easy to do so. It takes a toll on body. Badminton is one of the toughest sports in the world physically, you have to stay fit 100 per cent to play 17-20 tournaments per year. I would say me and PV Sindhu are gifted as players,” she added.
Also Read:
- Check out complete Indian Football Asian Games Fixtures
- Asian Games 2023 Cricket Schedule: All you need to Know
- India Hockey Team Schedule for Asian Games 2023 announced
- Asian Games: Badminton action to begin from 28th September – Check Full Schedule
Sindhu has played 14 BWF World Tour tournaments this year. In these, she has reached final once, semifinals and quarterfinals twice each. The rest have been dissapointing first or second round exits. She has slipped to 14th spot in BWF World Rankings. She last won Singapore Open last year.
Notably, Saina has not been in good form in 2020s. Last year, she played 13 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour tournaments and only reached quarterfinals once in Singapore Open. She bowed out of other tournaments mostly in first round. This year as well, she has played six BWF World Tour tournaments, getting three first-round exits and three second-round exits.
She is currently ranked at world number 55 in women’s singles competition. Her last BWF World Tour title win was in January 2019, when she won the Indonesia Masters.
Also Read:
- Will win Asian Games gold again, says Tajinderpal Singh Toor
- Asian Games throwback with Jaspal Rana
- Important for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty to be expressive on court: Mathias Boe
- Hope Sindhu is able to bounce back and give her best in Asian Games: Trupti Murgunde
- Hunger is what drives this Indian women’s rugby team
Indian badminton team for Asian Games 2023
-Men’s singles: HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth (individual/team), Lakshya Sen and Mithun Manjunath (team)
-Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty and Dhruv Kapila/MR Arjun (individual/team)
-Women’s singles: PV Sindhu and Ashmita Chaliha (individual/team), Anupama Upadhyaya and Malvika Bansod (team)
-Women’s doubles: Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly and Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto (individual/team)
-Mixed doubles: Rohan Kapoor /N Sikki Reddy and Sai Pratheek K/Tanisha Crasto.
Editor's Pick
Cricket
Rohit Sharma's form so bad that now Indian captain getting out against Devdutt Padikkal
Top Stories
