14-year-old teenage star from Rohtak, Unnati Hooda has secured a place in the Indian badminton squads for the 2022 Asian Games and Uber Cup.
Unnati made the cut by finishing third in the women's singles event at the selection trials in New Delhi, behind Aakarshi Kashyap and Ashmita Chaliha, who claimed first and second positions respectively.
Unnati is the youngest Indian badminton player to be part of the Asian Games squad.
However, the one big name missing from all squad lists released by the BAI is that of defending CWG women's gold medallist Saina Nehwal who did not participate in the trials.
Following six days of competitions and nail-biting action in the selection trials at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Thursday announced strong Indian contingents to participate in the upcoming Thomas & Uber Cup, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
For the Commonwealth Games, the men's team consists of Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty and B. Sumeeth Reddy while PV Sindhu will lead the women's squad which has Aakarshi, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri P and Ashwini Ponappa.
Sumeet Reddy and Ponappa made the cut into the men's and women's squads respectively for the Commonwealth Games after their top-place finish in the mixed doubles category.
A 10-member women's team for the Asian Games and Uber Cup will consist of PV Sindhu, Aakarshi, Ashmita, and Unnati alongside the top-3 doubles pairs from the trials-Treesa Jolly-Gayatri P, N Sikki Reddy -- Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto and Shruti Mishra.
Sindhu, Sen, Srikanth and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj and Shetty were awarded direct entry into the squads for their world rankings inside Top-15.
In-form shuttler HS Prannoy has also been included as part of the automatic selection for his consistently impressive recent form at the international circuit.
Saina is currently ranked 23rd in the BWF women's world rankings and thus did not earn an automatic spot, however she refused to take part in the trials as she said she did not want to risk an injury, following a hectic few weeks over the last month.
"As a senior player, to participate in back-to-back events non-stop is impossible and it’s risking injuries, such short notice is not possible. I’ve conveyed this to BAI but there has been no response from them. It seems like they’re happy to put me out of CWG n Asiad," Saina had tweeted on 14 April.
"I wish we had better understanding about how to manage a schedule and not announce events with 10 days notice. I’m world no. 23 currently and I almost beat the world no.1 Akane in All England. One loss at India open and BAI tries to pull me down. Shocking." she added in another tweet.
The BAI have made no comment following her statement.
Priyanshu Rajawat, who claimed the top spot in the men's singles category, also made his way into the 10-men contingent for the Asian Games and Thomas Cup alongside Sen, Srikanth and Prannoy. The team also has Satwiksairaj and Shetty and the top-2 doubles pairs from the trials-Dhruv Kapila-MR Arjun and Vishnu Vardhan Goud-Krishna Prasad Gariga.
The trials saw the participation of 120 players in the five categories as the league-cum-round robin format tested the ability of the players in each stage from April 15-20, the BAI informed in a release on Thursday.
Apart from the squads for the three major tournaments which are to be held this year, the BAI also finalised the names of 40 players (20 men and 20 women) for the senior national coaching camp and core group for the 2024 Olympic Games, based on players' positions in trials.
The 32nd edition of the Thomas Cup and 29th Uber Cup are scheduled in Bangkok from May 8-15 while the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2022 Asian Games will kickstart in Birmingham and Hangzhou respectively from July 28 and September 10.
INDIAN SQUADS:
Commonwealth Games: (Men) Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty and B Sumeeth Reddy.(Women) PV Sindhu, Aakarshi Kashyap, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri P, Ashwini Ponappa.
Asian Games and Thomas & Uber Cup: (Men) Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Priyanshu Rajawat, Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Dhruv Kapila, MR Arjun, Vishnu Vardhan Goud, Krishna Prasad Gariga (Women) PV Sindhu, Aakarshi Kashyap, Ashmita Chaliha, Unnati Hooda, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri P, N Sikki Reddy, Ashwini Ponappa, Tanisha Crasto and Shruti Mishra
(With inputs from IANS)
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