Lakshya Sen will be the star attraction in the 76th Inter-State-Inter-Zonal and 85th Senior National badminton championships to be held here from December 18 to 24.
The 22-year-old, a World championship bronze medallist, a CWG gold medallist, and World ranked 16, however, will compete only in the open events (singles) starting on December 20.
The team events (men & women) beginning on Monday will witness the seven teams (winners of zonal & inter-institutional events plus the host) fighting for honours.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) appears to be the favourite in both men’s and women’s sections.
Spearheaded by India No.1 Kartikey Gulshan Kumar and Alap Mishra (No.5) in singles, and with support from doubles specialists, Ravi Krishna and Achutaditya Rao, AAI looks pretty strong.
The AAI women’s team, too, looks formidable. With Mansi Singh (India No.4) in singles, and India No.1 and No.3 in doubles Priya Devi Konjengbam and Arul Bala, AAI has the wherewithal to bag the crown.
Indian Railways, Central Zone champion in men and women categories, is expected to offer quite a tough challenge in men’s. In its ranks, it has India No.6 Mithun Manjunath and Kaushal Dharmamer (India ranked 13) with doubles specialists Hemanagendra Babu and Sai Pratheek for company.
The Karnataka men’s team will be no pushover as it has reigning World Junior Championship bronze medallist Ayush Shetty and solid doubles players in Prakash Raj and H. V. Nithin.
Multiple champions Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) will not take part in the team events as it couldn’t participate in the Inter-institution championships (a qualifying event for Nationals) due to the non-availability of its top players.
The top women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopi Chand will not be participating due to an injury suffered by the latter.
For most of the Indians, it has been hectic as they had to take part in three consecutive international tournaments at home, a BWF Super 300: Syed Modi memorial (Nov. 28 to Dec.3) followed by two BWF Super 100 events: Guwahati Masters (Dec. 5 to 10) and Odisha Masters (Dec. 12 to 17).
In men’s singles, Lakshya will not have it easy. Twice, in 2017 (Patna) and 2019 (Guwahati), he lost in the final to Sourabh Verma. Sourabh is not playing here. Of course, Lakshya will have to fight it out with Mithun Manjunath, Ayush Shetty, Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat.
The women’s singles field appears open in the absence of P. V. Sindhu. Anyone from the lot including Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha, and Unnati Hooda can win the title.
Vimal Kumar, Director of Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (Bengaluru), where Lakahya trains, felt his ward could win the prestigious title. “He’s been training with us in Bengaluru for three weeks after returning home from the China Masters. The Nationals is a big preparatory event ahead of the Malaysia Open (January 9 to 14 2024). To become a national champion is important. He couldn’t take part in the previous edition due to an injury, but this time he is ready, but he has to perform,” said Vimal to Sportstar.
Omar Rashid, Organising Secretary and Secretary of Assam Badminton Association, admitted there will be pressure on the players and that there are chances of injuries. “But I think they will recover on time,” he said.
The teams:
Men: Assam, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Maharashtra, AAI, Indian Railways.
Women: Assam, AP, West Bengal, Punjab, AAI, Maharashtra, Indian Railways.
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