Highlights:
- P.V Sindhu to face Japan’s Aya Ohori at the Indonesia Open Super 1000 after making a semifinal exit to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi at the Bali Super 750.
- Kidambi Srikanth gears up for the World Tour Super 1000 after crushing defeat at the hands of Denmark’s Anders Antonsen.
Defending World Champion and two-time Olympic medallist, P. V Sindhu along with Kidambi Srikanth, recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri and Arjuna awards are all set to begin their campaign at the $850,000 Indonesia Open commencing Tuesday.
A couple of days after their semifinals conclude at the Indonesia Masters 750, the two badminton champions set their campaign at World Tour Super 1000 in motion in pursuit of the title.
Sindhu, last week, got routed at the hands of Japanese top seed Akane Yamaguchi at the Indonesia Masters 2021. Despite setting a superior 12-7 head-to-head record, she was defeated 13-21, 9-21 by her Japanese rival.
Sindhu last made it to the finals at the Swiss Open 2021. She neared the summit clash thrice on reaching the semifinals on 3 instances inclusive of her last two tournaments. Third seed Sindhu will face Japan’s Aya Ohori at the start of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 in addition to Canadian sixth seed, Michelle Li in the quarter if she surpasses former rounds.
K Srikanth, who bagged four titles in 2017, has partially reclaimed his form with two consecutive semifinals at Hylo Open and Indonesia Masters last week and would most likely be yearning to keep up with his good run. He was ousted by Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in the semifinals on Saturday and would presumably be desperate to make up for the loss in his next match against HS Pranoy.
Pranoy recovered from Covid last year and displayed good form when he outplayed Olympic Champion, Victor Axelsen of Denmark and would strive to carry on with the momentum this week.
Other Indians in the fray include world no. 16 and former BWF Bronze medallist, B Sai Praneeth and Lakshya Sen occupying the 4th place in the Race to Guangzhou. Praneeth will take on France’s Toma Junior Popov in the opening round and would hopefully ascertain his form in the same.
Also Read, Tokyo Olympics 2020: PV Sindhu Marches Into Semi-Finals After Defeating Akane Yamaguchi
Meanwhile, Lakshya will be up against Japan’s, two-time World Champion, Kento Momota in the first round. Parupalli Kashyap will contend against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew. Additionally, Men’s doubles pair of Tokyo Olympians, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have advanced without playing the opening round. Hopes are up for MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila who will battle Choi SolGyu and Kim Won Ho of Korea.
Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy will compete with Bulgarian pair Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva in the women’s doubles. The mixed doubles will witness Indian duos Ashwini and B Sumeeth Reddy along with Sikki Reddy and Dhruv.
This would be the final chance for all the players to rake up the World Tour Rankings and qualify for the BWF World Tour Finals scheduled in December.