Badminton: Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy eye title defence

Calgary, July 10: Defending champions Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will hope for a turnaround in their fortune when they begin their campaign in the men's doubles competition of the Canada Open Grand Prix which begins with the qualifiers, here tomorrow (July 11).

Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap and gaint-killer H S Prannoy will also hope to lay claim to their first title of the season when they begin their campaign at the Markin MacPhail Centre here.

It was double bonanza for India at the Canada Open last year when B Sai Praneeth and then Rio-bound Manu and Sumeeth clinched twin crowns.

While Praneeth has improved that showing with a maiden Super Series title at Singapore Open in April, Manu-Sumeeth seemed to have struggled with their form at the international circuit.

The third seeded duo have failed to cross the first round in most of the events that they have played this season and Manu-Sumeeth will look to correct those figures when they face Japanese combo of Kohei Gondo and Tatsuya Watanabe in the opening round.

In men's singles, 16th seed Kashyap have made a good return after recovering from a knee and shoulder injury. He looked in good touch at the Australian Open and would look to put his best foot forward when he takes on Peru's Daniel La Torre Regal.

Second seeded Prannoy was in rampaging form at Indonesia Super Series Premier, defeating Olympic silver and gold medallists - Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long respectively on successive days.

The 24-year-old will hope to continue his good run when he faces Mexico's Job Castillo in the opening round.

Among other Indians, Harsheel Dani will face 11th seeded Lucas Corvee of France, Lakhanee Sarang will take on a qualifier.

Abhishek Yelegar will also feature in the opening round on Wednesday.

In women's singles, National champion Rituparna Das and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde will lead the charge of the young bridage, comprising Reshma Karthik, Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli and Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka.

Rituparna will face Japan's Haruko Suzuki, Ruthvika will meet Korea's Ga Eun Kim, Sai will take on Canada's Rachel Honderich, while Reshma and Sri Krishna will face qualifiers.

Men's doubles pair of Francis Alwin and Tarun Kona will take on German combo of Daniel Benz and Andreas Heinz.

In women's doubles, Kuhoo Garg and Ningshi Block Hazarika will meet Bulgarian top seed Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva, while eighth seed Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram will face off against Japan's Arisa Higashino and Kie Nakanishi.

In mixed doubles event, Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold champion N Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra will face Peru's Daniel La Torre Regal and Danica Nishimura.

Among others, Manu will pair up with Maneesha K to take on third seeded Swede combo of Nico Ruponen and Amanda Hogstrom, while Tarun and Meghana will face local pair of Nyl Yakura and Brittney Tam.

PTI