Saina Nehwal to skip upcoming Asian Games trials due to fitness issues

Saina Nehwal will not to be a part of the national badminton selections trials for the upcoming Asian Games due to fitness issues. ”Saina Nehwal will not be participating as she has some fitness issues. Also, the men’s pair of Kushal Raj and Prakash Raj has also withdrawn from the trials,” Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary Sanjay Mishra told news agency PTI. In order to select the team for the prestigious tournament, which will be held in Hangzhou, China, from 23 September to 8 October, BAI will hold trials from 4 to 7 May at the Jwala Gutta Academy of Excellence in Telangana. The Orleans Masters was the last event that Saina Nehwal played. Fighting wounds for a long while, the former World No 1 had skipped the trials for Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in January. She had also missed the trials for the Commonwealth Games the year before. World No 11 PV Sindhu, World No 9 HS Prannoy, World No 6 men’s team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and the World No 19 women’s doubles pairing of of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly have made the cut by virtue of their top-20 rankings as on 18 April. The national federation had come out with a list of players for the Asian Games selection trials on 22 April, setting 28 April as the deadline for confirmation. World Championships silver and bronze medallists Kidambi Srikanth (World No. 23) and Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen (World No. 24), Orleans Masters Super 300 winner Priyanshu Rajawat, national champion Mithun Manjunath and  Olympian B Sai Praneeth are among the nine men’s singles players who will have to fight it out in the trials. Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha, Unnati Hooda will be among the women’s singles shuttlers present in the trials. Three players will be selected for men’s singles and women’s singles, while two mixed doubles pairs and one men’s doubles and one women’s doubles pair will be picked from the trials. List of Players for Asian Games 2023 selection trials: Men’s Singles: Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Priyanshu Rajawat, Mithun Manjunath, Sai Praneeth, Maisnam Meiraba, Bharat Raghav, Ansal Yadav, Siddhant Gupta Women’s Singles: Aakrshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha, Aditi Bhat, Unnati Hooda, Alisha Naik, Shriyanshi Valishetty, Anupama Upadhyay Men’s Doubles: MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila, Krishna Prasad/Vishuvardhan, Suraj Goala/Pruthvi Roy, Nithin HV/Sai Pratheek. Women’s Doubles: Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautham, Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponnappa, Radhika Sharma/Tanvi Sharma Mixed Doubles: Rohan Kapoor/Sikki Reddy, Sai Pratheek/Tanisha Crasto, Hariharan/Varshini, Hemagendra Babu/Kanika Kanwal. With inputs from PTI Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.