Sydney: Newly-crowned Indonesia Open champion Kidambi Srikanth and women’s defending champion Saina Nehwal will have their task cut out when they lead the Indian challenge at the Australia Super Series badminton tournament starting with the qualifiers here Tuesday.
With back-to-back finals, Srikanth is in sizzling form and will start favourite when he begins his campaign against a qualifier, Wednesday.
“The Australian Open is the last tournament before the World Championships and I am looking forward to it. Winning here would certainly add to my confidence,” Srikanth stated on arrival here Monday. “I hope I can add another title to my kitty,” he added.
HS Prannoy will seek revenge against Japanese Kazumasa Sakai who beat him in the Indonesian Open semifinals. The two – even though they reached the business end of the event at Jakarta – will face off in a qualifier here Tuesday.
Olympians Saina and PV Sindhu will however face tough challenges in the opening round itself. Saina will face Korean Sung Ji Hyun while Sindhu will take on Japanese Sayaka Sato. The two had played the final at Jakarta.
Both Saina and Sindhu were knocked out of the pre-quarterfinals last week and they will have to quickly recover from their shock defeats against Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol and little-known Beiwen Zhang of USA.
B Sai Praneeth, who had clinched his maiden Super Series title at the Singapore Open in April will also be in the limelight. The 24-year-old, who bowed out in the opening round at Jakarta and will face Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto in a first-round encounter.
