Indians look to end barren run
PARIS: World champion PV Sindhu will look to snap her recent run of early exits when she begins her women’s singles campaign at the USD 750,000 French Open, starting here on Tuesday.
Since claiming her maiden World Championship title in August, Sindhu has looked awfully out-ofform, failing to cross the second round in three tournaments. She faltered in the second and first rounds at the China Open and Korea Open respectively last month. Sindhu again exited in the second round at the Denmark Open the previous week. The Olympic silver medallist looked a tad slow in her movement, showing signs of dip in form.
Seeded fifth, Sindhu will be up against World No. 9 Michelle Li (Canada), who has beaten the Indian twice in the past. If Sindhu gets past the early rounds, she is likely to face top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals.
World No. 8 Saina Nehwal, who is also taking part in this BWF World Tour Super 750 event, has also been struggling with her fitness, making three first round exits in her last three competitions. The 29-year-old, who had finished runner-up at the 2012 edition, will meet Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi in the first round.
In men’s singles, 2017 champion Kidambi Srikanth too will be desperate to turn around his poor run when he steps out at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin here. However, it will not be an easy outing for the World No.9 as he opens his campaign against second seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei. Parupalli Kashyap will look to prove the first round exit last week at the Denmark Open was an aberration when he locks horns with Hong Kong’s NG Ka Long Angus.
Sameer Verma will meet Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the opening round, while World No. 12 B Sai Praneeth will once again face the legendary Lin Dan of China.
Sai Praneeth had beaten the two-time Olympic champion at the Denmark Open last week. In doubles, the women’s pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy will square off against fifth-seeded Korean duo of Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan. The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty faces the Dutch combination of Jelle Maas and Robin Tabeling.
Another men’s doubles duo of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy and the mixed pair of Satwiksairaj and Ashwini are also in the fray.