Saina Nehwal withdraws from Badminton Asia Championships

Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal withdrew from the upcoming Badminton Asia Championships which are set to begin on 25th April, Tuesday in Dubai, Abu Dhabi. Nehwal, if she'd remained in the competition would have started the campaign against an opponent from the qualifiers.

While Saina had skipped the trials for the tournament in January, this isn't the first competition the player has pulled out from. The veteran also pulled out from the All England Open and the Swiss Open earlier in the year.

With Nehwal's exit, India has PV Sindhu, Malvika Bansod, and Aakarshi Kashyap in the Women's Singles category. Wen Chi Hsu (Chinese Taipei), Akane Yamaguchi (Japan), and Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) are their opponents in the first round respectively.

Moreover, there have been new entries from India who will now ply their trade in the main draw. These include P.S. Ravikrishna/Sankar Udaykumar (Men's Doubles), Ashna Roy/Haritha Harinarayanan (Women's Doubles), and Ashwini Ponnappa/Sumeeth Reddy (Mixed Doubles).