SINDHU AIMS FOR ASIAN TITLE

Wuhan (China), April 24: Three years after winning a bronze at the Gimcheon edition, PV Sindhu will once again eye a superlative performance when she leads the Indian challenge at the Asia badminton championship, starting here on Tuesday. The Rio Olympic silver medallist had clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in January this year before annexing the India Super Series title early this month. The fourth seed Sindhu then reached the quarter-finals at the Singapore Open, where she lost to Olympic champion Carolina Marin. The Indian ace will look for another consistent show this week. The 21-year-old from Hyderabad will square off against Indonesia’s Dinar Dyah Ayustine in the opening round. Another shuttler from Hyderabad Saina Nehwal, who had skipped Singapore Open to work on her game after losing in the first round of Malaysia Open, will open her campaign against Japan’s Sayaka Sato at the Wuhan Sports Center Gynasium. The World No. 8 Indian has a 61 head-to-head record against the Japanese, having last beaten her at the Hong Kong Open last year. In the men’s singles category, Ajay Jayaram, who reached a career-best World No. 13 last Thursday, will face a tough competitor when he face the fifth seeded Chinese Tian Houwei, who clinched the China Masters Grand Prix Gold on Sunday. H S Prannoy, who had skipped Malaysia and Singapore Open, to change a few things in his game ahead of future tournaments, will take on Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus, seeded eighth. Among others, Indian mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy will have a tough task at hand when they face top seeded Chinese combo of Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen in the opening round.