New Delhi: Former champions P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will look to shrug off their erratic form and ensure an Indian sweep at the USD 350,000 India Open, which is shorn of star power this time.
With Saina Nehwal pulling out of the country’s blue-riband tournament after failing to recover from acute gastroenteritis, the onus will be on Sindhu and Srikanth to keep the tricolour flying at the business end of the tournament starting Tuesday.
Olympic silver-medallist Sindhu, who claimed the World Tour Finals in December last year, will be the firm favourite to secure the women’s title after receiving the top billing following the pullout of Chinese top seed and reigning All Englang champion Chen Yufei due to medical reasons.
Sindhu will open against compatriot Mugdha Agrey and is expected to face fast-rising Danish Mia Blichfeldt, seeded eighth, in the quarterfinals. A win is likely to pit her against Chinese third seed He Bingjiao.
The tournament will hold a lot of prominence for third seed Srikanth, who has endured a title draught for the last 17 months.
With defending champion and top seed Shi Yuqi pulling out, Srikanth will be at the forefront along with former world champion Viktor Axelsen, who had claimed the title in 2017 after three back-to-back finals.
Srikanth, who clinched as many as four titles in 2017, consistently reached the quarterfinals in 2018 but couldn’t come close to claiming a title with the 2017 French Open triumph being his last win.
PTI
