India to face Vietnam in B’minton Asia Youth C’ships today

Chief national coach of junior Indian team Sanjiv Sachdeva who took care of Indian team players during the probables camp here said,“ We should win 5-0 against Vietnam and I expect that India should win the tie against Iran as well. However,the match against Malaysia will be a tough one in all probability.”

Regarding the medal prospects of the Indian team Sachdeva said,“We have good chances of winning a medal this year because Korea is not participating in the championships. Our first target will be to reach the quarter-finals of the event.” He said though it was “just a ten-day preparatory camp organised at UPBA,but the players have benefited from it.”

After the completion of the league stage,the second stage of the mixed team event will start with the quarter-finals from July 4 morning.

While defending champions China will face Syria in their first league tie which will be played at 9.00 am on Saturday,runners-up Malaysia will face Iran in their first league clash at 4.00 pm on Saturday.

Players from different countries including China,Hong Kong,Jordan,Bangladesh,Indonesia,Singapore,Malaysia,Sri Lanka besides hosts India practised hard at the UPBA courts on Friday.

Last minute touches were being given to the preparations. S Muralidharan,vice-president of Badminton Association of India (BAI) informed that the AC testing for main hall which has the courts had started and “the fully air-conditioned facility will be in full flow from Saturday. If the weather remains cool owing to the incessant rains,then the AC will be switched off.”

AGM today

The Annual General Body meet of the BAI will be held at Lucknow on Saturday. S Muralidharan,vice-president BAI informed that the elections for the post of the president and the treasurer will be held during the meet. “The election for the president’s post is likely to be a unanimous decision as besides Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta (who is chairman BAI and UPBA) no other person filed the nomination. For the treasurer’s post there are three nominations,they are from—Ashok Bajaj (Chennai),KN Jaiswal (Bihar) and Vinay Agarwal (Haryana),” he informed.

Inauguration

The formal inauguration of the championships took place at around 8.00 pm on Friday. Accommodation in charge and national umpire Ravindra Chauhan informed that four teams — “China,Hong Kong,Chinese Taipei and Sri Lanka could not turn-up for the inaugural function due to heavy rains.”Saturday’s Fixtures (Mixed Team event): At 9.00 am: Group C: Hong Kong vs Singapore; Indonesia vs Nepal; Group B: Thailand vs Jordan; Group A: China vs Syria; Group B: Chinese Taipei vs Sri Lanka; Group A: Japan vs Bangladesh; At 4.00 pm: Group A: China vs Bangladesh; Group B: Thailand vs Sri Lanka; Group D: India vs Vietnam; Malaysia vs Iran; Group B: Chinese Taipei vs Jordan; Group A: Japan vs Syria.