Malvika Bansod has been selected for the national badminton camp slated to begin at the SAI-Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad on September 7 (Monday).
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) is organising the national camp to prepare the Indian side for the forthcoming Thomas and Uber Cup. The Badminton World Federation is restarting the international badminton season after nearly seven months with the annual multi-nation tournament scheduled to be held at Aarhus in Denmark from October 3 to 11.
Nagpur teenager Malvika along with several others have been asked to report to the national chief coach Pullela Gopichand on September 7 in Hyderabad.
The preparatory camp will be conducted along with the ongoing national camp being held for the Tokyo Olympics hopefuls.
The three-week long camp will be supervised by Gopichand and his team of national coaches to see the performance of the probables who are out of action for more than six months.
All the probables have been asked to reach Hyderabad on Monday and after the necessary Covid-19 tests they will be allowed to participate in the camp.
After a couple of weeks of practice, the final Indian team will be finalized on September 17. It is understood that September 18 is the last date to submit the players list.
India have already sent the team’s entry to the BWF but the final players list will be submitted after watching the performance of the probables.
“The BAI is calling the players and taking its time to announce the final Indian squad because BAI is not confident that all the selected players are willing to go to Denmark. The present pandemic situation is not good and BAI can’t force the players to travel. It is upto the players whether they want to play or not. That’s the reason for organizing the camp and analysing the players current situation. Because of the long break there is a chance some of the players will not be in proper shape,” said the sources.
The BAI is applying the wait and watch policy and take the final decision about the participating players later.
Malvika, who is ranked India No. 2 in the BAI rankings, is very happy to get a call and looking forward to joining the camp.
“Yes we have got a call from the BAI office and asked whether I can join the national camp on Monday. I said I will join the camp. We will leave shortly by road and will reach Hyderabad,” said Malvika.
The India No. 2 is most likely to get selected in the Indian team on the basis of her ranking and current form.
“If I get selected in the Indian team I will definitely travel to Denmark with the national squad. It will be a great opportunity for me to represent the country in such a prestigious tournament,” said eighteen-year-old Malvika.
The ace southpaw is supported by Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL) and currently training under chief junior national coach Sanjay Mishra in Raipur.
If she gets selected, Malvika will be the third city shutter after Arundhati Pantawane and Vaishnavi Bhale to represent the country in the Uber Cup.
Courtesy: orangecitysports.com
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