Top teams arrive in Dubai for Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships

Top teams including China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India have arrived here in Dubai and are raring to start their campaigns at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships, set to begin at the Expo-City Dubai Exhibition Centre from Tuesday, February 14.

With the first batch arriving on Saturday, the teams that also included Singapore, Chinese Taipei and South Korea, along with the national team, UAE, have started their training at the Dubai Exhibition Centre. The arriving teams received a warm welcome from the local organisers, Beyond Boundaries.

“Our first batch of teams have arrived. And we are very happy to welcome them all. The teams have already started training at the venue and looks ready to start their campaign at the event. The action is set to begin with all the preparations done and I wish all the very best to the teams,” said Dr. Sathya Menon, the CEO of Beyond Boundaries.

Meanwhile, UAE Badminton Federation President Noura Aljasmi too sent her warm greetings to the arriving teams and wished everyone a lovely time in Dubai.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who along with HS Prannoy, the world no. 9 men’s singles player will lead Team India’s campaign, has arrived here and was confident of India’s good show. Team India is placed in Group B alongside seeded Malaysia.

“It’s always nice to play in Dubai. I played last in Dubai three years ago at the BWF Superseries Finals. The Team Championships are always different; and I love the atmosphere. I hope we can put up a strong show at the event. We have some of the best men’s singles players in Prannoy and Lakshya (Sen) and doubles teams as well. We are confident of a good show,” said Sindhu.

Japan’s mixed doubles specialist Yuta Watanabe was excited to be here too and is looking forward to starting the team’s first match in Group D. “I am very excited to be in Dubai and play some good matches in front of Dubai crowd. I will try to do my best for my team. Good Luck to everyone.”

Indonesia’s world no. 2 men’s singles player Anthony Sinisuka Ginting was keenly looking forward to the event and felt that it is going to be an “exciting contest”.

China will have names like Zhao Junpeng, who was part of China's gold medal winning team at 2019 edition, and Huang Dong Ping, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist. Malaysia, meanwhile, will be led by their star doubles pair Soh Wooi Yik and Aaron Chia.

The Championships, which will feature one men’s singles, one women’s singles, one men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and a mixed doubles game in a rubber, will open with round robin matches in the four groups on Tuesday.

Two teams from each group will advance to the knock-out round ties that will be decided after a draw.

This is the first time the UAE is hosting the Badminton Asia Championships, which holds great significance as they act as the qualifying window to the prestigious Olympics Games.

• Sports