Dhruv Kapila replaces Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in Badminton Asia Team Championships squad

The youngster will partner with Chirag Shetty at the mega event.

Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships is set to be held from 14 -19 February in Dubai. The squad for the tournament was announced by the BAI (Badminton Association of India) on 08 February, Wednesday. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and World No. 9 HS Prannoy will be leading the Indian contingent. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy is injured and out of the team.

Indian squad for Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships

Men’s Singles - HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen

Women’s Singles - PV Sindhu and Aakarshi Kashyap

Men’s Doubles - Dhruv Kapila/Chirag Shetty and Krishna Prasad Garga/Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala

Women’s Doubles - Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand and Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam

Mixed Doubles - Ishaan Bhatnagar/Tanisha Crasto

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be missing the event due to an injury that he sustained at the BWF 750 Indian Open in January. Chirag Shetty will now partner with Dhruv Kapila in the men’s doubles. Dhruv Kapila is the latest entrant to the squad and the shuttler hasn't played any tournament in 2023 with MR Arjun his doubles partner suffering from an injury.

Lakshya Sen and Aakarshi Kashyap will likely be the backup options in the singles section. This will be an important tournament for PV Sindhu ahead of the European tour.

The Badminton Association of India held trials for picking up the squad in January. Apart from a few top players like PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, and Lakshya Sen in singles, all others had to attend the trials. The last edition of the event had to be cancelled due to the Covid 19 in 2021.

India is placed in Group B alongside Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and UAE (United Arab Emirates). There are a total of five groups with each group consisting of four teams (Group C has five teams). The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stages.