With Indian shuttlers currently busy with the Malaysia Open 2026, the Badminton Asia Team Championships is their next target, which is scheduled to be held from February 3 to 8 in Qingdao, China. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will lead the women’s team after resulting in a draw in Group Y along with Thailand and Myanmar. The Indian women’s team will enter the competition as the defending champions. Everything is currently at stake.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s team are in a tough spot with Lakshya Sen heading the group as draws in the championship. Joining Lakshya will be the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who finished as draws along with Japan and Singapore in Group C. The Indian pair had earlier lost to Japan in the quarter-finals match in the last edition and will look to avenge their loss this time.
However, only the top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stages, starting with the quarter-finals. All four semi-finalists in both men’s and women’s events will qualify for the 2026 Thomas and Uber Cup Finals.
On the bright side, Sindhu is currently on a dominating run in the ongoing Malaysia Open 2026 Super 1000 in Kuala Lumpur. The ace women’s singles shuttler has secured her spot in the semi-finals after defeating her world no. 3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan. The match finished in a one-round game after the Japanese player retired hurt in just 12 minutes of play.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj-Chirag lost their campaign at the BWF Super 1000 tournament. The Indian duo exited after getting defeated by the world No. 6 pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri from Indonesia in the quarterfinals match by sets of 21-10, 23-21. The two-time world championship bronze medallists and reigning Asian Games champions.
The men’s team leader, Lakshya, however, lost his match in the second round of the Super 1000 tournament. He was defeated by Hong Kong-China’s Lee Cheuk Yiu by sets of 20-22, 15-21 in a 53-minute match. Earlier in the contest, he achieved wins over Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh.
PV Sindhu, who has been influential in the success of badminton in India, is one of the trailblazing shuttlers of the nation, competing and achieving major milestones on the global platform.
