Despite the fear of Coronavirus, India's men badminton team arrived in Manila, Philippines for the Badminton Championship starting on Tuesday. The team is eyeing a medal which will give the players important ranking points in the Olympic year. The Indian women's team has already decided to withdraw from the tournament due to coronavirus.
The Indian team consists of Kidambi Srikanth, World Championship bronze medalists B Praneeth, HS Prannoy, Shubhankar Sharma and Lakshya Sen. The Indian team won bronze in this championship in 2016. The team was initially placed in Group A alongside two-time defending champions Indonesia and hosts Philippines, but due to travel restrictions of the host country, China and Hong Kong will not participate in this tournament. India is now placed in Group B along with Malaysia and Kazakhstan.
The top two teams from all four groups will advance to the quarter-finals. India will begin its campaign against Kazakhstan. The Indian team then has to play against Malaysia on Thursday. The Asia Team Championship is being organized for the third time. It is also the Asia qualifier of the Thomas and Uber Cup. The Indian team is expected to win easily against Kazakhstan but the match against Malaysia will be exciting. Malaysia's youth team includes world number 14 Li Ji Jia, 2014 Youth Olympics gold medalist Chim Jun Wei and three-time silver medalist Leong Jun Hao of the World Junior Championship.
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