BAI Selection Trial Live: Samir pulls out; George, Priyanshu and Akashi, Asmita run for the top spot. Former world number 11 Samir Verma has withdrawn due to a back injury as Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat are in contention for the men’s singles poll position on the 4th day of BAI’s election trial on Monday. Follow the live updates of the BAI selection trial on InsideSport.IN
In the women’s singles, Akashi Kashyap and Asmita Chaliha led the fight for 1 to 4 positions after KD Yadav claimed an easy victory over their respective opponents inside the Indira Gandhi Stadium complex.
BAI Selection Trial Live: Samir pulls out; George, Priyanshu and Akashi, Asmita are leading the race for the top spot
National trials are being conducted to select teams for the upcoming Thomas and Uber Cup (May 8-15, Bangkok), Commonwealth Games (July 28-August 8, Birmingham) and Asian Games (Hangzhou, September 10-25).
After defeating Odisha Open champion George 21-9 21-15 Robbie, Priyangshu got a walkover from Sameer, whose decision to withdraw turned it into a three-way fight for 1 to 4 positions.
Although Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikkanth have already booked their tickets due to their top 15 world rankings, a position for the Thomas Cup and Asian Games still remains to be occupied.
For Akashi, it was an easy outing as he defeated Aditi Bhatt 21-15 21-13, while Asmita defeated Unnati Hooda 21-13 21-16.
The winner of the women’s singles trial will be selected as the second player for the CWG team, while three positions are available for the Uber Cup and Asian Games teams.
BAI Selection Trial Live: Samir pulls out; George, Priyanshu and Akashi, Asmita are leading the race for the top spot
In the women’s doubles, Commonwealth Games bronze medalists N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa and All England Championship semifinals Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand topped their respective women’s doubles groups.
Siki and Ashwini beat Simran Singhi and Ritika Thackeray 21-15, 21-15 to secure their third win in Phase 2A, where Trissa and Gayatri survived the 16-21 21-18 26-24 clash against Mehreen Riza and Shailja Shukla. Go hat trick to win in stage 2B.
Tanisha Crasto and Shruti finished second in mixed stage 2B, while Simran and Ritwika came second in stage 2A.
The pair will now play for 1 to 4 positions with the winners of the two groups.
The winner of the women’s doubles will be selected for the Commonwealth Games, with three positions up for grabs for the Asian Games and the Uber Cup.
Satviksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have already been selected, due to their ranking at No. 7 in the world, only one position will be filled from the CWG team trial.
BAI Selection Trial Live: Samir pulls out; George, Priyanshu and Akashi, Asmita are leading the race for the top spot
However, two men’s pairs will be selected for the Asian Games and the Thomas Cup.
MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, and Ishan Bhatnagar and K Sai Pratik are the two pairs of men who topped their respective Stage 2A and Stage 2B groups.
Manu Atri and B Sumit Reddy, and Krishna Prasad G and Vishnuvardhan Gaur P finished second in their group and the pair will compete for the next 1 to 4 position with the top.
Ashwini and Sikki, along with their partners Sumit and Sai Pratik, won the mixed doubles of 2A and stage 2B respectively.
Ishan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Cresto, and Pratik Ranade and Akshay Warang are the two pairs who have secured second place in the debate for the 1st to 4th position in Level 2A and Level 2B respectively.
The winner of the mixed doubles will be selected for third place in the CWG.
BAI Selection Trial Live: Samir pulls out; George, Priyanshu and Akashi, Asmita are leading the race
