Junior Gopichand along with rising stars joins the Asian Games Squad

On Wednesday, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) announced the names of six junior players, who were selected in the team of 20 shuttlers. Gayatri Gopichand, daughter of chief national coach Gopichand Pullela made her spot in the team of 20. 

Ashmita Chaliha, Aakarshi Kashyap, Rutuparna Panda, Sai Uttejitha Rao, Aasrthi Sara Sunil of her peer group will be joining the young shuttler. Winner of 2016 Chinese Taipei Masters, Sourabh verma will also join the squad for the Asian Games in Jakarta along with the famous trio of PV Sindhu, K Srikanth and Saina Nehwal.

Men’s Singles

Two senior ranking tournaments in Hyderabad and Bengaluru were organized by BAI. The objective behind the tournaments is to select a team after excluding the senior players from the tournaments. In men’s singles, Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, Prannoy and Sameer Verma have already made their place and the fighter player and former national champion, Sourabh Verma catapulted at the last spot.

Women’s Singles

By giving astounding performances in the selection tournament, four young shuttlers were tabbed by BAI in the women’s singles. Bengaluru title was won by Sai Uttejitha whereas Ashmita won the Hyderabad title. Gayatri and Aakarshi Kashyap, who completed the semi-finals in Hyderabad have produced an excellent show and made it to the vacant spots. Former national champion and runner-up at Bengaluru, Rituparna Das, performed well, however she did not make it to the list.

Women’s Doubles

Ashiwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy, the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist players, made their place in the squad. After winning Bengaluru title and reaching the semi-finals in Hyderabad, the women’s doubles twins Rutaparna Panda and Arathi Sara Sunil grabbed the second position in the team.

Men’s Doubles

The men’s doubles have also grabbed the attention of badminton fans. CWG silver medallist, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be the first pair. B Sumeeth Reddy and Mannu Attri will also join the squad as the second duo. Pranav Jerry Chopra and Sikki, the senior mixed doubles pair have also joined the squad along with Ashwini and Satwik, who will be in the second pair of the mixed doubles. The selection committee, at Bengaluru, has focused on the uniformity and robustness of the players in the selection procedure. The committee has also considered the past 6 months performance and fitness of the players. Before selection, the training camps reports from the coaches of the players was also considered as an important criterion for selection.

BAI president, Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that the points entitled by each player from both the domestic tournaments for the qualification were significant aspects of the selection procedure. This was a notable step of the selection panel to maintain transparency in the selection procedure. In a situation, where the points of any two players were equal, the outcomes of their direct competition were considered. Sarma said that every player should get the golden opportunity to play for the nation. He congratulated the nominated players for the upcoming tournaments. August 18th to September 2nd, will be the season of the 18th edition of the Asian Games.

We hope that the renowned titles and medals showered upon the players.