The 2023 Badminton Asia Championships is scheduled to be held from 25 to 30 April in Dubai. The upcoming tournament is the 40th edition of the Badminton Asia Championships, which is hosted by the United Arab Emirates Badminton Federation. This international tournament will be played at the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall in Dubai. The total prize money for this year’s BWF World Tour Super 1000 event is US$400,000.
Indian shuttlers were handed a tough draw at the international tournament. The continental event will see a total of seven Indian singles players and eight doubles pairs competing to win the title in their respective categories. Indian star shuttler PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, and Chirag Shetty are the seeded entries from India as they look to make a great impact on a big stage. Sindhu and Prannoy are 8th seeds in their respective singles draw, while the Swiss Open 2023 champions Satwik and Chirag are seeded 6th in the men’s doubles competition.
Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu, who won bronze in the last edition in Manila will face a stiffer challenge this time around. The former world champion has struggled for form this season however, showed some positive signs and played well to reach the final of the 2023 Madrid Spain Masters. But Sindhu lost the championship match heavily 8-21, 8-21 against Gregoria Tunjung of Indonesia.
The 27-year-old Indian will start off her Asia campaign with an uncertain fixture against World No.17 Wen Chi Hsu. Sindhu’s run seems to get tougher from there as she could face Chinese Han Yue in the second round, and a potential quarterfinal awaits against her arch-rival An Se Young, the second seed at the event.
Saina Nehwal will take on a qualifier in the opening round and is expected to have a potential second-round clash against He Bing Jiao. Malvika Bansod will start off with the toughest possible test, facing top seed Akane Yamaguchi in the opening round. Aakarshi Kashyap will face a former world champion in Ratchanok Intanon.
In men’s singles, the young shuttler Lakshya Sen has the toughest opening as he will clash with former world champion Loh Kean Yew. Srikanth Kidambi will start off with a winnable clash against Bahrain’s Adnan Ebrahim but could face fourth-seeded Kodai Naraoka in the second round. HS Prannoy faces Phone Pyae Naing of Myanmar in the opening round. The Indian is in the same quarter where the reigning champion Lee Zii Jia is placed.
