Lakshya Sen will be the star attraction in the 76th Inter-State-Inter-Zonal and 85th Senior National badminton championships to be held here from December 18 to 24.
The 22-year-old, however, will compete only in the open events (singles) starting on December 20.
The team events (men & women) beginning on Monday will witness the seven teams (winners of zonal & inter-institutional events plus the host) fighting for the honours.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) appears to be the favourite on paper in both men’s and women’s sections. The team is spearheaded by India No.1 Kartikey Gulshan Kumar and Alap Mishra (No.5) in singles, and with support from doubles specialists, Ravi Krishna and Achutaditya Rao.
The AAI women’s team, too, looks formidable. With Mansi Singh (India No.4) in singles, and India No.1 and No.3 in doubles Priya Devi Konjengbam and Arul Bala, AAI has the wherewithal to bag the crown.
Indian Railways, Central Zone champion in men and women categories, is expected to offer quite a tough challenge in the men’s category. In its ranks, it has India No.6 Mithun Manjunath and Kaushal Dharmamer (India ranked 13) with doubles specialists Hemanagendra Babu and Sai Pratheek for company.
The Karnataka men’s team will be no pushover as it has reigning World Junior Championship bronze medallist Ayush Shetty and solid doubles players Prakash Raj and H.V. Nithin.
Multiple champions Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) will not take part in the team events as it couldn’t participate in the Inter-institution championships (a qualifying event for Nationals) due to the non-availability of its top players.
In men’s singles, Lakshya will not have it easy. Twice, in 2017 (Patna) and 2019 (Guwahati), he lost in the final to Sourabh Verma. Sourabh is not playing here. Of course, Lakshya will have to fight it out with Mithun Manjunath, Ayush Shetty, Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat.
The women’s singles field appears open in the absence of P.V. Sindhu. Anyone from the lot, including Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha, and Unnati Hooda can win the title.
The teams: Men: Assam, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Maharashtra, AAI, Indian Railways. Women: Assam, AP, West Bengal, Punjab, AAI, Maharashtra, Indian Railways.
