Odense, Oct 13:
Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu faces a formidable opening-round challenge against world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea at the Denmark Open Super 750 badminton tournament, which begins on Tuesday.
Sindhu, a former world champion, has lost all 10 of her previous encounters against An, the defending champion. The Indian will look to overcome that record as she leads the country’s challenge at the USD 950,000 tournament.
Sindhu won the Japan Open Super 750 title in July before reaching the quarter-finals of the Arctic Open last week, where she lost to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in a closely fought three-game contest.
In the men’s singles draw, Lakshya Sen faces third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei. Lakshya will be keen to regain his best form after an inconsistent run, including an early exit from the individual event at the Asian Games. He has also been troubled by a back injury, although he reached the final of the All England Championships earlier this year.
India’s other men’s singles players include Ayush Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth. Ayush takes on Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan, while Srikanth, the 2017 champion, opens against France’s Arnaud Merkle.
In women’s singles, India will also be represented by Tanvi Sharma, Ashmita Chaliha, Devika Sihag and Unnati Hooda. Tanvi won her maiden BWF World Tour title at the Taipei Open in August, while Ashmita claimed the Korea Masters Super 300 crown.
In doubles, former world No. 1 pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to bounce back from their early exit at the Asian Games. They face China’s He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu in the opening round. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will spearhead India’s women’s doubles challenge after winning a historic bronze at the World Championships in August.