Badminton Australian Open 2023: Assessing Indian shuttlers' skills ahead of the Asian Games 2023

With the Asian Games 2023 right around the corner, all Indian shuttlers who will be competing in Hangzhou are fine-tuning their preparations. The Australian Open also acted as the perfect opportunity to test out their skills in an actual tournament.

Out of the four players that will participate in the women's singles event at the Asian Games, PV Sindhu, Ashmita Chaliha, and Malvika Bansod were in action at the Australian Open.

Malvika Bansod lost out in the round of 32 at the tournament against Taiwanese player Pai Yu Po. Malvika was close to her opponent in the first game, with the score being 20-22, but she lost her form in the second set. Going into the Asian Games, Malvika should be looking to improve her consistency and patience.

After an unfortunate draw, Ashmita Chaliha was forced to face PV Sindhu in the first round of the tournament. Chaliha put up a tough fight in the first game, only to lose her momentum in the second. She will hope to be better prepared for the mental aspects of the game.

PV Sindhu lost out to American, Beiwan Zhang in the quarterfinals of the tournament. While a straight game loss against an opponent she used to easily beat has got to sting, there's plenty of learning to be done for Sindhu. The star player will most probably be working on enhancing her net game to help her capitalize on her smashes.

Moving on to the men's singles, all four players who are in the squad for the Asian Games were present at the Australian Open.

In an unfortunate event, Lakshya Sen was forced to retire 0-5 into his game against compatriot Kiran George. While the nature of his injury remains undisclosed, Sen will no doubt be aiming for rest and recovery in the stretch before Hangzhou.

One of the most promising performances of the tournament came from Mithun Manjunath. He beat ex-world champion Loh Kean Yew in his first round, before going down fighting against Malaysian All-England champ Lee Zee Jia. Mithun displayed some very impressive skills and the future star only has to continue this momentum and confidence come September.

Ex-world number one Srikanth Kidambi seemed to be getting his mojo back as he took down Japanese Kenta Nishimoto in his first game. However, he stumbled against junior Priyanshu Rajawat in the quarterfinals.

Given the fact that Kidambi showed glimpses of his old self at the Australian Open, the Indian should be focused more on the psychological aspect of his play before the Asian Games.

Last but not least, HS Prannoy had quite an impressive outing at this tournament. The aptly named 'giant killer' took down seed no. 1 Anthony Ginting in his quest to reach his second final of the year.

Prannoy has had impeccable form so far into the year, and it doesn't look like the Indian needs to make any major changes to his game before entering Hangzhou.

India's doubles contingent for the Asian Games

Both the Indian women's doubles pairs that will compete at the Asian Games were present in Australia. The duo of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa had a slightly disappointing performance as they lost their first match against Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi.

However, they were able to push their opponents to three games. Before the Asian Games, Tanisha and Ashwini will likely be aiming to hone their attacking skills in the game.

Indian pair Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand lost out to two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara in their pre-quarters. While they displayed some great skills during the match, the duo will be targeting a stronger start for their matches.

Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy were the only other doubles pair playing at the Australian Open. The duo suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Koreans Seo Seau-jae and Chae Yoo-jung, with a score of 14-21, 18-21.

However, the Indians were up 18-12 in the second set before a string of errors. This indicates that a lot of their work before Hangzhou will be centered around mental strength training.

The Indian team will next be seen at the World Championships, one of the most important tournaments on the calendar. The higher stakes at the tournament should further help each player assess their game before the 2023 Asian Games.