A big setback for the Indian badminton contingent as the top women’s singles player, PV Sindhu, has withdrawn from the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2026.
PV Sindhu was the spearhead of the defending champions’ women’s team, but will now be unable to defend her title due to a minor niggle, as reported by various sources.
This will be the second consecutive edition where Sindhu will not compete at the Asian team tournament after missing out on last year’s Mixed team C’ship because of a hamstring injury.
She recovered well from that injury and had a good start to 2026, having one quarterfinal finish at Indonesia Masters and a semi-final run at Malaysian Open earlier.
Youngsters to lead the Chart
The 2026 edition ofBadminton Asia Team C’ships is scheduled to take place in Qingdao, China, from February 3 to 8, where India women are placed in Group C with Thailand and Myanmar.
With Sindhu’s absence, the Indian singles department will now highly depend on youngsters like Unnati Hooda, Tanvi Sharma and Malvika Bansod.
They will join hands with the experienced women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, alongside Priya Devi, Shruti Mishra and Tanisha Crasto.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s team will have a much more experienced squad, including multiple members from the 2022 Thomas Cup-winning Indian team.
The team will be led by the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, alongside Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth in singles.
