HYDERABAD: Has a mistake on India’s badminton Association (BAI) cost HS Prannoy and Sai Praneeth the threat to compete at the Asian Badminton Championships (ABC), which kicks off in Wuhan on Tuesday?
Prannoy became the bronze medallist last year. However, he cannot defend the points he secured last year because he missed out on no fault.
According to the policies, all top nations get four entries into the major draw. In the last 12 months, India fielded four shuttlers in guys’ singles.
Badminton Asia lists four eligible gamers to national institutions based on their ratings. It was learned that Kidambi Srikanth, Sameer Verma, HS Prannoy, and Sai Praneeth were endorsed using the Asian body. Surprisingly, BAI confirmed only two entries, leaving out Prannoy and Sai.
Moreover, four entries were sent for combined doubles, and all four teams were not India’s first preference pairs. Several international locations have now fielded four gamers; however, shuttlers ranked lower than Prannoy and Sai inside the important draw. For instance, Srikanth’s opponent in the first spherical, Shear Hiren Rhustavito, is ranked 43 within the international, at the same time as Sai is No.20 and Prannoy is No.21. Prannoy and Praneeth got here to recognize the goof-up on Monday when the Indian supervisor attended Wuhan’s meeting.
“Each and each event is vital for us. I am upset with what has passed off,” Prannoy advised TOI. “I am elevating this problem because it could also appear next year. I do not want anyone to suffer because of the association’s negligence. If Malaysia and Indonesia are becoming four entries, why is India no longer? I want proof from our association,” he brought.
Players have been under stress within the previous few months over problems like ticketing, clearances, and entries. BAI’s Abhijeet used to deal with many of these problems, but considering that he left six months ago, the players were encountering troubles on many counts.
BAI clarified they were asked to send the simplest entries in guys’ singles. “Based on the e-mail obtained from Badminton Asia, we have been asked to send names of gamers every for men’s singles and women’s singles; three names each for guys’ and ladies’ doubles and four gamers for mixed doubles and the draw that became posted based the World Ranking of gamers dated week of February 26, 2019, mentioned Kidambi Srikanth (international ranking 6) and Sameer Verma (international ranking eleven) within the predominant draw as per the ranking eligibility list published using Badminton Asia and the identical changed into followed to send the gamers for the Championships,” BAI said.
Problems aside, the Indian singles players have a respectable draw. Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu face clean opponents in the first round. In the quarterfinals, Sindhu is expected to face Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea, and Saina is to play Akane Yamaguchi of Japan. Srikanth may additionally face Chen Long of China in the quarterfinals, while Sameer faces Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia in the second round.
Chief coach Pullela Gopichand described the draw as tough. “The draw isn’t always difficult, however challenging. Though the opponents inside the first round aren’t higher-ranked players, they can supply a difficult time to our gamers,” Gopichand said.
