Indian shuttlers get tough draw at All England
BIRMINGHAM: Indian shuttlers, including PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, have been handed tough draws at the All England Championships, where a player from India has not won a title in the last 18 years. Olympic and World Championship silver medallist Sindhu, who had reached the semi-finals here last year, will open her campaign against South Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun while Indonesia Masters champion Saina takes on Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour in the first round of the World Tour Super 1000 tournament, which begins on March 6.
Both Sindhu and Saina are currently playing at the Senior National Championships and will head straight to Birmingham for the prestigious tournament. Sindhu will have to be cautious against Hyun, who had defeated her at the 2018 Hong Kong Open. If she gets past Hyun, the Indian is likely to face third seed Chen Yufei in the quarter-final.
Former world No.1 Saina, who had reached the All England final in 2015, made a good start to the new season with a semi-final finish at the Malaysia Masters and a title win at Indonesia.
But the London Olympics bronze medallist is expected to face world No.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals. Saina has lost her last 11 encounters against Tai, who had an injury-marred end to last season. The Indian duo will also fancy their chances after threetime world champion Carolina Marin of Spain has been ruled
out due to a knee injury.
In men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth, who missed the Senior Nationals due to a minor ankle issue, will take on Frenchman Brice Leverdez in the opening round. He is likely to meet world No.1 Kento Momota in the quarter-finals.
The seventh seeded Indian had lost to Momota five times last season.
Sameer Verma, who reached the semi-finals at World Tour Finals, will start his campaign against former world No.1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.