Saina Nehwal named for Asian Mixed Team C'ship selection trials
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Saina Nehwal, a two-time Commonwealth Games winner, has been nominated for the Asian Mixed Team Championships selection trials, which will take place in Dubai from February 14 to February 19. On December 25, a virtual conference of the senior selection committee was held to finalise the trials.
The committee agreed to provide direct entrance to the men's doubles team of Satwiksairaj Ranikreddy and Chirag Shetty as well as singles players Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, and PV Sindhu based on their higher global rankings.
The selection trials, which are slated to take place in Delhi on January 2 and 3, will choose the remaining members of the 14-member squad. "The members unanimously agreed that since it is a big competition with limited number of entries, only BWF rankings from 16-50 should be considered for inviting players for the trials for the rest of the available spots," the BAI said in a letter.
Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap, in addition to Saina, have been invited to the trials for women's singles, while Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, Krishna Prasad Garga/Vishnuvardhan Goud P, and Ishaan Bhatnagar/Sai Patheek K have been nominated for men's doubles.
Women's doubles bronze medalists from the Commonwealth Games Treesa Jolly and Gayatri P Gopichand, Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, Ashwini Bhatt and Shikha Gautam, and Haritha Manazhiyil and Ashna Roy were invited to compete for the two available slots.
For the tryouts, which would choose the one mixed doubles pair for the competition, Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto, Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan, and Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy were invited.
Former world number one Saina withdrew from the 2022 Commonwealth Games selection trials in April to manage her workload following three weeks of competition in Europe.
The BAI requested that the state associations notify the athletes about the trials. In a letter to all the associated state organisations, the governing body stated, "If there is no confirmation from a player/pair to compete in the selection trials, the next best-ranked player/pair in the BWF Top-16 to 50 on December 25, 2022 to be included in the trials." December 30 is the last day to get a confirmation.
