Thailand Open: Sindhu withdraws; Sourabh, Uttejitha reach main draw

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Bangkok, July 30: Top Indian shuttler P V Sindhu has withdrawn from the Thailand Open but compatriot Saina Nehwal will return to the circuit in the BWF Super 500 event in Bangkok after missing out back-to-back tournaments.

Sindhu, who reached the final in Indonesia Open but lost in the Japan Open quarterfinals last week, will not take the court in the Thailand Open main draw, which begins on Wednesday (July 31).

She had lost to Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in both the previous tournaments. The reasons for her withdrawal from the event are not clear yet.

Saina, seeded seventh, will open her women's singles campaign against a qualifier on Wednesday (July 31).

She was forced to withdraw from both the Indonesia and Japan Open on medical grounds.

On Tuesday (July 30), Sourabh Verma notched up back-to-back wins but compatriot Ajay Jayaram made an exit in the qualification round of the men's singles competition.

Sourabh beat Kantawat Leelavechabutr of Thailand 21-18 21-19, while Jayaram lost to Zhou Ze Qi of China 16-21 13-21 in the opening round matches of the qualifiers.

Sourabh later defeated Zhou 11-21, 21-14, 21-18 to secure a place in the main draw. Meanwhile, Sai Uttejitha Rao qualified for the main draw in the women's singles competition after a 16-21,21-14,21-19 comeback win over Canada's Brittney Tam.

The likes of B Sai Pranneeth, Kidambi Srikanth, H S Prannoy, Shubhankar Dey and Parupalli Kashyap, in men's singles, are in the fray in the main draw of the BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament.