PSPB start favourites in Senior National Badminton Championship

CHANDIGARH: The 71st Yonex Sunrise Senior National Badminton Championship will mark the new beginning for Indian badminton.
For the first time in the history, the team event will be played in a mixed format like prestigious Sudirman Cup. Till last year, there would be separate team championships for men and women on the lines of Thomas and Uber Cup.
However, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) has decided to merge the two old formats after the last Nationals held at Vijayawada in 2015.
With the introduction of a new format, there is suspense and apprehension all over with everybody is curious how they are going to adapt to the new challenge as the battle for national supremacy begin at the Sector 14 Sports Department Badminton Hall here on Tuesday.
One thing, however, is sure that team with quality men and women players in their squad will ultimately emerge champions. The balance of the side is vital in the best-of-five-matches team event.
This year's Nationals will not witness the top Indian shuttlers as they will be participating in the Malaysian Open Super Series which will be played simultaneously at Shah Alam during that period.
The BAI has allowed those players who are in the reckoning to qualify for the Rio Olympics and therefore players like Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, K Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Ajay Jayaram and P Kashyap will miss the Nationals.
The absence of the big stars will provide an ideal opportunity for the fringe players to hog the limelight and break into the national squad with outstanding performance.
Seven teams will vie for the honours in the team championship. Six winners from their respective zones and hosts Chandigarh have qualified for the mega event.
Petroleum Sports Promotional Board (PSPB) start as the hot favourite for the title. Telangana and Maharashtra will have to play out of their skins to upset mighty PSPB.
"We have a very balanced side. Sai Praneeth, Gurusaidutt and Sourabh Varma are our singles players. Arun Vishnu, Tarun Kona and experienced Diju will play the doubles. Our women players are also quite strong with the likes of PC Thulasi, Rituparna Das, Ruthvika Shivani, Tanvi Lad and Aparna Balan. We should win the title," said PSPB coach Siddharth Jain.
Last year, Air India men had stunned defending champions PSPB to clinch Rahmatullah Cup, while PSPB women had no trouble in retaining their Chadha Cup crown.
After the first two days of team event, fight for individual glory will begin on Thursday. There will be no qualifying rounds in the individuals. Top 12 BAI ranked players along with two best players from each state will be the part of the main draw.
Participating teams: Uttar Pradesh (East Zone winners), Maharashtra (West Zone), Haryana (North Zone), Telangana (South Zone), Assam (North-East), PSPB (Central Zone), Chandigarh (hosts).