PV Sindhu pulls out of Badminton Asia Team Championship

Sindhu, a former world champion, made a successful return to competition after a foot injury that kept her out from October last year.

2 min readUpdated: Jan 31, 2026 11:02 PM IST

File image of Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu has pulled out of the upcoming Badminton Asia Team Championships, dealing a major blow to Indian team’s medal chances at the tournament beginning next week.

Sindhu, a former world champion, made a successful return to competition after a foot injury that kept her out from October last year.

“Sindhu has withdrawn from the Asia Team Championships due to slight niggle,” a source aware of the development told PTI.

The 30-year-old had also withdrawn from the 2025 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships after sustaining a hamstring injury during a training camp in Guwahati. Since her recent comeback, she reached the semifinals of the Malaysia Open, exited in the first round of the India Open and made the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Masters.

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In her absence, India’s medal prospects appear slim at the continental event, which begins on February 3 in Qingdao. The Indian women had clinched gold at the 2024 edition in Malaysia, the country’s first medal in the women’s team competition.

India have been placed in Group Y with Thailand and Myanmar.

In absence of Sindhu, the singles responsibility will now rest on world junior championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda, Rakshita Sree Santhosh Ramraj and Malvika Bansod, while Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly will spearhead the doubles challenge. Priya Konjengbam, Shruti Mishra and Tanisha Crasto complete the squad.

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Good start

PV Sindhu enjoyed a good start to the season where she reached the semi-final of the season opener Malaysia Open Super 1000 earlier at the start of the month.

However, the double Olympic medallist had a poor outing at the India Super 750 in New Delhi after she was knocked out in the first round by Vietnamese shuttler Nguyen Thuy Linh.

At the Indonesia Masters Super 500 tournament, Sindhu started well winning the first two rounds defeating Japanese Manami Suizu and Line Kjærsfeldt of Denmark respectively.

(With agency inputs)