The Indian women’s badminton team was handed a tough draw for the 2018 Asian Games as they were slotted to face top seeds Japan after a first-round bye.
Japan India, Korea, and Indonesia were all placed in the top half of the draw, while China, Thailand and Chinese Taipei were the strong teams in the bottom half. Defending champions China, Thailand, Japan Korea and India received first-round byes, which means they will play directly in the quarter-finals.
If the Indian team beats Japan, they will take on either Korea, Indonesia or Hong Kong in the semi-finals.
The Indian men’s team was handed an easier draw comparatively, as they take on Maldives in their opening clash. If they win that, India will take on hosts Indonesia, who received a first-round bye, in the quarter-finals.
While the top two seeds, China and hosts Indonesia, head straight into the quarter-finals, defending champions Korea will open their campaign against Thailand on Sunday. Japan and Malaysia will also lock horns in the other potential blockbuster on the opening day.
The Asian Games team competition follows a knock-out format, which means teams cannot afford to slip up even once. The matches will be decided by a best-of-five format. The draw for the individual championship will be carried out after the team finals on August 22.
The Indian men’s team will be led by Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy. World No 3 PV Sindhu and India’s first Olympic medallist in badminton, Saina Nehwal, will be at the forefront of the contest in women’s category. They will be supported by CWG 2018 silver-medal winners Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in men’s doubles, while bronze medallists, Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa will shoulder India’s charge in women doubles.
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