PV Sindhu will face a tough test on his return from a five-month injury layoff as India’s top commuters including HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen will aim to start the year on a high note at the Malaysian Open from Tuesday.
After a very successful 2022, India’s star commuters are hoping to raise the bar even further in 2023, when the Paris Olympic qualifying period kicks off in May.
With plenty of ranking points on the line, the Indian commuters will join other big stars such as World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen, Malaysian Lee Zii Jia, Akane Yamugachi, Tai Tzu ying as they aim for a good show in the tournament Super 1000 at 1,250,000 USD. here.
Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu, who is coming back from an ankle injury, begins her campaign against former world champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
Sindhu last played at the Commonwealth Games in August and it will be an interesting battle against Marin, who has won the last three encounters against the Indian and also boasts a better one-on-one record of 9-5. -head.
In men’s singles, world No. 10 Sen, the only seeded Indian player, will engage in a round of one-upmanship against his compatriot and world No. 8′ Prannoy in the first round.
Meanwhile, the former no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth will open his campaign against unranked Japanese Kenta Nishimoto. A win is likely to put Srikanth against fifth seed Jonatan Christie with defending champion Axelsen also placed in the same quarter.
In men’s doubles, world No. 5 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who won the CWG title, Indian Open and French Open in 2022, will face South Koreans Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Wan-ho in the first round.
Seventh-seeded World Championship bronze medalists Satwik and Chirag will likely face local favorites Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the quarter-finals if they can make it past the early rounds.
Saina Nehwal, Aakarshi Kashyap and Malvika Bansod are also in the ladies’ singles fray.
While Saina will face non-seeded Han Yue of China, Aakarshi will face Hsu Wen-chi of Chinese Taipei and Malvika will face second seed An Se-young of Korea.
In women’s doubles, CWG bronze medalists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will face Hong Kong’s Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam in the first round, while Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam will face Thailand’s Supissara Paewsampran and Putita Supajirakul.
Indian mixed doubles duo Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto will face Dutch Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek in the first round.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
