Youngsters lead title defence in absence of PV Sindhu
In absence of double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, the Indian women’s team will have a tough task on their hand to defend the title at the Badminton Asia Team Championships starting tomorrow in Qingdao, China while the men’s team will be banking on a strong core led by Lakshya Sen to pose a challenge for the podium.
Sindhu, who started her season with a good outing at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament, withdraw from the event due to medical concern. Badminton Association of India confirmed that due to the late withdrawal, there won’t be any replacement in the team.
India had scripted history by clinching their maiden women’s team gold in the last edition in Malaysia, but Sindhu’s withdrawal due to a niggle has dealt a significant blow to their medal hopes.
With Sindhu not there, the younger crop of Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda, and Malvika Bansod along with experienced doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will lead the Indian challenge.
The eyeballs will be on Unnati Hooda and teenager Tanvi Sharma. Unnati, 18, is coming on the back of a brilliant 2025 season where she achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 23 and defeated Sindhu at the China Open. The youngest Indian ever to win a BWF Super 100 title, Unnati ended 2025 with a title at the Odisha Masters.
Tanvi impressed everyone at the start of 2026 with her impressive shows at the India Open Super 750 and Indonesia Masters Super 500. While she lost to higher-ranked shuttlers Wang Zhi Yi and Tomoka Miyazaki in both tournaments, her performance showed promise.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, who defended their Syed Modi International crown in December, will spearhead the doubles challenge alongside Priya Konjengbam, Shruti Mishra and Tanisha Crasto.
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India open their women’s campaign against Myanmar on Wednesday before facing Thailand in Group Y.
Lakshya leads strong core
World number 13 Lakshya Sen will lead the Indian men’s team that also features veteran pros Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy- both former World championship medallists.
Lakshya had a good 2025 where he won the Australian Open and made it to the final of Hong Kong Open. Srikanth also reached finals at Malaysia Masters and Syed Modi International. While Prannoy is not in his best form but can beat anyone on his day when he is 100 percent fit.
Upcoming youngster Ayush Shetty will be India’s number two after winning the US Open Super 300 last year.
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Led by World No. 13 Lakshya Sen, the squad also features former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth and seasoned campaigner HS Prannoy — three world championship medallists.
The doubles unit will once again revolve around two-time world championships bronze medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who had a subdued start to the season with a quarterfinal and round of 16 finish at Malaysia Open and India Open. The former world No.1 will be hungry to taste success.
Sai Pratheek K, Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Hariharan Amsakarunan are the other doubles players.
Clubbed in group C, the men will begin their campaign against Singapore on Wednesday before a tougher group tie against Japan.
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The top two teams from each group will progress to the quarterfinals in the biennial continental event.
Draw for Indian teams at Badminton Asia Championships
India Women: Group Y – India, Myanmar, Thailand
India Men: Group C – India, Singapore, Japan
Indian Squads for 2026 Badminton Asia Team Championships
Men: Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, Kidambi Srikanth, Prannoy HS, Tharun Mannepalli, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy, Sai Pratheek K, Hariharan Amsakarunan
Women: Unnati Hooda: Tanvi Sharma, Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj, Malvika Bansod, Surya Charisma Tamiri, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand, Priya Konjengbam, Shruti Mishra, Tanisha Crasto
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Schedule at 2026 Badminton Asia Team Championships (All IST Timings):
4th February- 8:30 AM – India Women Vs Myanmar, 2:30 PM – India Men Vs Singapore Men
5th February- 8:30 AM – India Women Vs Thailand Women, 2:30 PM – Indian Men Vs Japan Men
6th February – Quarter-finals
7th February – Semi-finals
8th February – Final
Where to Watch 2026 Badminton Asia Team Championships
The Badminton Asia Team Championships 2026 will be live-streamed on the Sony Sports Network. The action will also be available on the Badminton Asia official YouTube channel.
