New Delhi: Indian shuttlers face a tricky draw at the India Open Super 750 tournament in New Delhi later this month, with former world champion PV Sindhu set to take on Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen and 2022 champion Lakshya Sen to open his campaign against the rising star Ayush Shetty in an all-Indian clash.
Sindhu’s first test will be against a player whom she has lost twice recently, that too, in the women’s singles first round. Nguyen, ranked 22 in the world, was one of the most consistent performers on the circuit last year. If the Indian beats the Vietnamese, she will meet either the second seed Wang Zhi Yi or her Chinese teammate Gao Fang Jie in the second round.
The tournament, one of the largest events on the BWF World Tour, will take place from January 13 to 18 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
The event at the IGI Stadium will act as a dress rehearsal for the BWF World Championships to be held at the same venue in August.
Lakshya’s opening round clash with world junior medallist Shetty means that only three of the four Indian men’s singles players will progress to the second round. The winner of the Lakshya-Ayush match will meet either fourth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei or Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto.
Among other Indians, former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth will face off against Chinese Taipei’s world No. 12 Lin Chun-Yi. If Srikanth passes the first-round Test against the 2024 Thomas Cup bronze medal-winning team member, his possible second-round clash will be against Christo Popov.
Frenchman Popov is coming on the back of winning the BWF World Tour Finals men’s singles title.
Satwik-Chirag handed an easy opening round draw
Seasoned pro H S Prannoy, who was handed the main draw entry after the withdrawal of Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, will kick off his campaign against last edition finalist Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, young Malvika Bansod, returning after a long injury layoff, will face Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei in the opening round.
In other interesting opening-round match-ups, top seed An Se Young will meet former world champion Nozomi Okuhara, while third seed Akane Yamaguchi faces compatriot Riko Gunji.
In the men’s doubles category, former champions Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have been handed a relatively easy draw against the USA’s Chen Zhi Yi and Presley Smith.
Two-time All-England semifinalists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will face Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai of Thailand in the women’s doubles opener.
(With PTI Inputs)