Two badminton shuttlers, one, an Olympic silver medalist, the other a bronze winner. The common factor, they will be representing India at the Asia Mixed team Championship, 2017, to be held in Vietnam from February 14-19.Riding high on the back of a Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold win last week P.V. Sindhu and Saina, getting off to a rampaging start this year, thanks to her win at the Malaysian Masters.
Both representing India is a mouth-watering prospect. We also got a glimpse of the two Indian badminton stars compete against each other at the Indian Open, where the Rio silver medallist (Sindhu) got the better of Saina in a nerve-wracking three-setter.
In the reserves, there is a highly-promising Tanvi Lad and Rituparna Das, but they are unlikely to get a chance considering that the event will have only one women’s singles match, one men’s singles, one men’s doubles, one women’s doubles and one mixed-doubles.
A total of 13 countries will be vying for the coveted crown.
This tournament is being held at a time when the two leading female shuttlers are enjoying a purple patch, this augurs well for India.
The road to the knockouts is not an easy one for India, as they are clubbed against giants like Singapore, China and Korea.
PV Sindhu missed out on a gold medal in Rio Olympics 2016. She did not win the final but won the hearts, with it a silver medal. She also became the first woman to win a silver medal in Olympics.
