PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will be eyeing the Indonesia Open. (File Pic)
Saina Nehwal is not participating in this tournament, so the responsibility on PV Sindhu will increase. In the doubles category, eyes will also be on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and country’s rising star Lakshya Sen will lead the Indian challenge in the Indonesia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament starting on Tuesday in which they aim to achieve their goals. There has to be consistency in performance. Sindhu has won two Super 300 titles this year – the Syed Modi International and the Swiss Open – but has not been able to do well against top players. She recently lost to Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, Chen Yu Fei of China and An Se of Korea. At the Indonesia Open, Sindhu will open her campaign against China’s Hee Bing Xiao, whom she defeated in the Badminton Asia Championships.
If seventh seed Sindhu manages to win the opening two rounds, she could face third seed Ann Se Young, who has an excellent 5-0 record against the Indian. Only the top 32 players in the world will compete in the $1,200,000 BWF World Tour event. Three-time former world champion and Rio Olympic gold medalist Carolina Marin will return from the tournament after recovering from a knee injury.
Saina Nehwal will not participate
Indian legend Saina Nehwal will not play in this competition. He plans to play at the Malaysia Open next week. In men’s singles, eighth seed Sen and HS Prannoy will face each other in the first round. Sen has been in good shape for the last few months but he needs to be consistent in his performance. World Championships silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth will take on Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei while B Sai Praneeth will take on Hans Kristian Solberg Wittingus of Denmark in the opening match.
Keep an eye on Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty
Top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will open their campaign against Korea’s Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho. In men’s doubles, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapil and Krishna Prasad Garga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala will also present their challenge. In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, and Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam will present the challenge. Ashwini and Sumeet and Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto will try their luck in mixed doubles as well.
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