Sindu, Prannoy to lead India charge at Asia Mixed Team Championships

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Dubai will host the prestigious Asia Mixed Team Championships 2023, a continental badminton tournament to crown the best-mixed national badminton teams in Asia, next month.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence in the UAE, Honorary President of the UAE Badminton Federation, the championship will be organized by UAE Badminton Federation in association with Dubai Sports Council.

The event will take place at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in Dubai from February 14-19, with the participation of 17 Asian countries.

The details of the event were revealed during a press conference held at the headquarters of the Dubai Sports Council.

Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council, Jassim Kenso, Vice President of the International Badminton Federation, and Noura Al Jasmi, President of the UAE Badminton Federation, Nasser Aman Al Rahma, assistant. Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council, and members of the Board of Directors of the federation attended the conference.

Musa Nashed, Secretary General of the Asian Badminton Federation, and Dr. Satya Menon, CEO of the Blue Ocean Corporation Group, and the Indian badminton player PV Sindhu, ranked 6th in the world, who won the silver of the 2016 Rio Olympics and the bronze of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, were also present on the occassion.

During the press conference, the championship trophy was unveiled, and the draw ceremony was held for the participating teams including namely: China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, Syria, Lebanon, and Pakistan in addition to the UAE.

Saeed stressed that the UAE Badminton Federation is on the threshold of a new stage of development and prosperity, and he welcomed the attendees, as well as the Olympic champion, the world player Sindu.

H said: "We are proud to cooperate with the Asian Badminton Federation and the UAE Badminton Federation to host this great continental event in which 17 Asian countries, including the world's strongest countries, participate in this Olympic sport, and this championship comes as an extension of the World Badminton Championships that Dubai was a pioneer in In hosting it, where four world championships were held at the Hamdan Sports Complex for four consecutive years.

“Badminton enjoys great interest in the UAE in general, and in Dubai in particular, as it is an Olympic sport. Danish Viktor Axelsen, who trained in Dubai and managed to win the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and we hope that this championship will inspire a number of young men and women in the country to practice and develop in it, leading to honorable representation of the country in world championships and Olympic tournaments,” he added.

Noura thanked the wise leadership, and praised the role of the Dubai Sports Council and the support of the General Authority of Sports, and explained that the event is being organized for the first time in Dubai, and the Dubai Expo headquarters was chosen as a global tourist destination, and the participating teams are staying at the Roof Hotel.

"The UAE has strengthened its position as a leading sports center. We are honored and pleased this time to host the Asian Mixed Team Badminton Championship. We are very happy with the feedback we have received so far, and we expect the number of fans to be large, befitting such a big event. My best wishes to the Emirates Badminton Team,” Noura added.

Jassem Kanso said: We are happy that the tournament will be held for the first time in Dubai, which gives the tournament great weight, thanks to Dubai's position on the global sports map, and the International Federation is pleased to provide all means of support for the tournament.

Meanwhile, India has been placed in Group B alongside Malaysia, UAE, and Kazakhstan in the Asia Mixed Team Championships 2023, which will be held here at the Dubai Exhibition Centre, from February 14 to 19.

The draw for the continental event, which will have 17 teams, took place at the Dubai Sports Council headquarters on Tuesday.

World No. 8 HS Prannoy and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sindhu would lead a strong Indian contingent at the prestigious tournament.

Lakshya Sen would be the second men’s singles player in the squad while Aakarshi Kashyap would provide backup to Sindhu in women’s singles.

Group A consists of China, Korea, Singapore and Uzbekistan. Group C includes Indonesia, Thailand, Bahrain, Syria and Lebanon while Japan, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong and Pakistan are drawn in Group D.

China, Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia are the top four seeded teams. All 17 teams are divided into four groups of four countries, and one group with five, where they compete in Round Robin format with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage.

The Indian team was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the first edition held in 2017. India could not go past the group stage in the last edition of the Championship, held in 2019. The 2021 edition was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.