New Delhi: In-form Saina Nehwal and defending champion PV Sindhu will be the cynosure of all eyes when they start their campaign at the USD 350,000 India Open, starting Tuesday.
The marquee event will also feature 2014 champion Kidambi Srikanth beginning his new season after missing last week’s Indonesia Masters.
Saina, who had clinched the India Open Super Series in 2015, has made a superb start to the new season as she reached the finals of Indonesia Masters after recovering from an ankle injury and she would be one of the favourites this week.
Fourth seed Nehwal will face Denmark’s Sofie Dahl in the opening round and fifth seed Beiwen Zhang will be her likely opponent in the quarterfinals.
Sindhu, on the other hand, has been simply sensational ever since her Olympic silver medal as she clinched three titles and three silvers last season and rightly received top billing for the tournament here.
The World Championship silver medallist will begin her campaign against Denmark’s Natalia Rohde and barring any surprises her real challenge will come in the form of former World Champion Ratchanok Intanon in the semifinals.
Interestingly, Sindhu’s campaign at Jakarta was cut short by compatriot Saina in the quarterfinals and there is a realistic possibility that the celebrated duo can again meet in an all-Indian final if they can live upto their reputation.
In men’s singles second seeded Srikanth will open his campaign against Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu. World No.10 HS Prannoy will look to start the new season on a positive note when he faces a qualifier in his opening match.
Among the other Indians, Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth will face Rajiv Ouseph of England in the opening round while Commonwealth Games’ gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap will begin his campaign against Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark.
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