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Indian Open: Focus on Saina, Sindhu

PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will lead India challenge in the Indian Open badminton starting on Tuesday

By Unnikrishnan
PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will be India's main hopes

New Delhi, January 29: In-form Saina Nehwal and defending champion P V Sindhu will be the cynosure of all eyes when they start their campaign at the USD 350,000 India Open, starting Tuesday (January 29).

The marquee event will also feature 2014 champion Kidambi Srikanth beginning his new season after missing last week's Indonesia Masters.

Saina, who had clinched the India Open Super Series in 2015, has made a superb start to the new season as she reached the finals of Indonesia Masters after recovering from an ankle injury and she would be one of the favourites.

This was the first major final appearance for Saina since her injury-induced ouster from the Rio Olympics.

Placed in the bottom half, fourth seed Nehwal will face Denmark's Sofie Dahl in the opening round and fifth seed Beiwen Zhang will be her likely opponent in the quarterfinals.

Sindhu, on the other hand, has been simply sensational ever since her Olympic silver medal as she clinched three titles and three silvers last season and rightly received top billing for the tournament here.

The World Championship silver medallist will begin her campaign against Denmark's Natalia Rohde and barring any surprises her real challenge will come in the form of former world champion Ratchanok Intanon in the semifinals.

Kidambi Srikanth will lead men's challenge

In men's singles, Srikanth exceeded all expectations with four titles and a runners-up finish last season but a leg injury during the Senior National Badminton Championships in Nagpur affected his game as he had to sit out of the China Open and Hong Open last year. But he has hit a good streak since then.

Story first published: Tuesday, January 30, 2018, 9:23 [IST]
Other articles published on Jan 30, 2018