Crossminton World Championship: Seven-member team to represent India

A seven-member Indian team will compete in the fifth Crossminton World Championship to be staged in Budapest, Hungary, from July 4 to 7.

Shweta Rana was supposed to represent the women's team, but the entire unit withdrew owing to various reasons.

A seven-member Indian team will compete in the fifth Crossminton World Championship to be staged in Budapest, Hungary, from July 4 to 7.

Originally, eight men and six women were selected, but the entire women’s team, including former women’s national runner-up in tennis Shweta Rana, withdrew owing to various reasons. The secretary general of the All India Crossminton Organisation, Bilal Ahmad, said that more than 600 players would be competing from 30 countries in the world championship. The game, a combination of tennis, badminton and squash, does not require a net, and can be played both indoors and outdoors. The racquets are similar to the ones used in squash, and the heavy shuttle is called ‘’speeder’’. The scoring is first to 16 with a difference of two points. There will be a tie-break at 15-15. It can be played on tennis courts, indoor halls, beaches etc. Competition is held over two boxes of 18’x 18’with a gap of 42’between them. There will be singles, doubles and mixed doubles events apart from team championship. The duo of Ashish Choudhary and Piyush Kumar Singh had won three bronze medals in the Mauritius Open last year in under-18 and men’s singles and doubles. The Indian team: Vikram Datt Sharma (captain), Kashif Ali, Piyush Kumar Singh, Ashish Choudhary, Abhinav Kumar. Coach: Bilal Ahmad, Junior coach: Arvind Anand.