Sans Saina & Sindhu India to compete at Asia Mixed Team C'ship

India will be without the services of ace women's singles shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu and the onus will be on the men's singles and doubles pairs to lead the country's challenge at the inaugural Asia Mixed Team Championship, starting here tomorrow.

Initially named in the squad, Saina and Sindhu decided to skip the tournament to prepare for the upcoming hectic international schedule which includes next month's All England Championship.

In the absence of Saina and Sindhu, Tanvi Lad and newly-crowned National champion and Polish open winner Rituparna Das will spearhead the challenge in the women's singles, while the onus in men's singles will be on H S Prannoy and Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold winner Sameer Verma.

"The absence of Saina and Sindhu will obviously effect our chances but I think it's a great chance for the youngsters to prove themselves," Prannoy, the Swiss Open champion, told

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)