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The 2024 edition of the Badminton Asia Championship will begin today in Ningbo, China. Star shuttlers, including H S Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen, PV Sindhu and others will represent the Indian contingent. In Men’s singles, H S Prannoy will take on Lu Guangzhou of China whereas Kidambi Srikanth will lock horns with Anthony Ginting of Indonesia in the opening round. Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen will face the top-seeded Shi Yu Qi in the first round. Another Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat will also mark the Indian presence in the tournament. He will meet Malaysia’s Lee Zii in the first round.
In women’s singles, P V Sindhu will take on the Malaysian Goh Jin Wei in the first round. Sindhu will be accompanied by Aakarshi Kashyap, who will be facing Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, in the main draw. Meanwhile, Ashmita Chaliha and Malvika Bansod will start from the qualifiers.
In Men’s doubles, the pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will face the seventh-seeded Chinese Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi. Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek K are also in the fray. In women’s doubles, the duo of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa will face the Indonesian pair of Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will take on the fourth-seeded Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning of China.
The competition will provide an opportunity for players to boost their rankings ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics which will take place in July this year.