Asia Team badminton from Monday

Hyderabad: The entire Indian team that is to vie for honours in the Badminton Asia Team Championship that gets underway at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here on February 15 were oozing with confidence on one side and left perplexed over the ‘missing’ link.

In a situation that sends ominous signals, none from the chief national coach Pullela Gopichand to the newest member, were aware of whether the flag-bearer, Saina Nehwal would be playing or not.

The world number two woman player did not turn up for Friday’s camp amid speculations about her ‘availability” for the prestigious championship.
In the event of Saina giving the event a go-by, P V Sindhu will spearhead the host’s challenge.

This according to Gopichand ‘is a sign that the youngsters are ready to carry on the responsibility and bear the brunt.’ “Saina is a strong player. Even otherwise, we have a strong team in Sindhu, Jwala Gutta, G Ruthvika Shivani, K Maneesha, Sikki Reddy, PC Thulasi and Ashwini Ponappa,” he pointed out.

“Our young players have done decently well in the South Asian Games. The seasoned campaigners, Jwala and Ashwini, can bring the solidity to the relatively young outfit,” he said.

“K Srikanth, Ajay Jayram and HS Pronnoy are in good nick and that is a good augury. And so is the form of doubles specialists Akshay Dewalkar and Pranav Chopra and Manu Atri and Sumith Reddy,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sindhu hinted that the two successive in title rounds were off her minds as she ‘ready for the Asia Team Championship.’ “The draw is quite favourable as we will be playing alongside Singapore and Japan.

We can beat Singapore and also over Japan in the singles match” she said. Jwala insisted that Saina should play for the team. “It is difficult if she is not playing. Saina would have been the trump card. Now the pressure will be more, But then we are prepared for the challenge.” she said.