Malvika off to winning start in Asian Games trials

In women's singles group B, second seeded Malvika Bansod first defeated Anupama Upadhyaya 21-15, 21-11 in straight two games and then she got the better of Aalisha Naik 21-13, 21-7.

The Asian Games in Hangzhou, China to be played from September 23-October 8, 2023 will have separate team championships for men and women followed by the individual events in which India can have a maximum of two entries per event. Nine men's singles players and eight women's singles players have entered the trials for three spots each.

Men's and women's singles players are divided in two groups in Stage 1 with the top-two players in each group going to Stage 2. The four players will once again face off in a league format and the result of Stage 2 for players competing against each other for the second time will be considered for final standings.

The selected players will join HS Prannoy, former world champion PV Sindhu, reigning Asian champions Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and women's doubles combination of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly in the Asian Games squad.