Badminton Asia C'Ships' 24: Malvika Bansod, Panda sisters qualify for main draw

Asia's biggest badminton tournament, the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) 2024 got underway in Ningbo, China with the qualifying rounds, on Tuesday.

The Indian contingent in the qualifying rounds did themselves proud through a series of wins across all categories.

The Panda sisters, Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda won both their games and advanced to the main draw of the event and will be up against Chinese duo Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu in the Round of 32 of the main draw.

Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker, who topped Group C of the women's doubles qualifiers, are drawn against Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee of South Korea in the first round of the BAC.

Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar also topped their group by winning both games in Group A in the men's doubles qualifying draw. They will have their task cut out against world no. 5 Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the Round of 32.

In the women's singles qualifying draw, Malavika Bansod topped Group B by winning both her matches. She will face Korea's Sim Yu Jin in her Round of 32 match.

The mixed doubles pairing of Satish Kumar and Aadya have been drawn against Hong Kong duo Lee Chun Hei and NG Tsz Yau in the main draw.

The only blip in an otherwise perfect day for the Indians came with the other mixed doubles duo Ashith Surya and Amrutha as they could only finish second in their group after losing to Chinese duo Pham Van Hai and Than Van Anh. They finished second in Group C of the mixed doubles qualifying draw and as a result, are out of the tournament.

Along with the qualified Indians, Day 2 will see the stalwarts of Indian badminton HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth among others take the court in their respective Round of 32 matches.