Sindhu aims to snap run of early exits at French Open
PARIS: World champion PV Sindhu would look to snap her recent run of early exits when she begins her women’s singles campaign at the $750,000 French Open badminton tournament, beginning here on Tuesday.
Since claiming her maiden World Championships title in August, Sindhu has looked outof-form as she had failed to cross the second round in three tournaments.
She lost in the second and first rounds at the China Open and Korea Open, respectively, last month. Sindhu again exited in the second round in straight games against Korea’s An Se Young at the Denmark Open last week. The Olympic silver medallist looked a tad slow in her movement in the last three tournaments, showing signs of dip in her form.
Seeded fifth in the tournament, Sindhu, a 2017 semi-finalist, will be up against Canada’s world number 9 Michelle Li, who has beaten the Indian in the past twice. If Sindhu gets past the early rounds, the world number 6 Indian is likely to face top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals.
World number 8 Saina Nehwal, who is also taking part in this BWF World Tour Super 750 event, has also been struggling with her fitness and has made three first-round exits in her last three tournaments. The 29-yearold, who had finished runner-up at the 2012 edition, will meet Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi in the opening round.
In the men’s singles, 2017 champion Kidambi Srikanth too will be desperate to turn around his poor run in form when he steps out at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin here.
However, it will not be an easy outing for the world number 9 Indian as he opens his campaign against second seed Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen.
Former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap, who reached the semifinals at India Open and Korea Open, would look to prove that the first-round exit last week at
Denmark Open was an aberration when he lock horns with Hong Kong’s NG Ka Long Angus.
Sameer Verma, who had reached the semifinals of the World Tour Finals last December, will meet Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the opening round.
World number 12 B Sai Praneeth, who had claimed a bronze at the World Championships, will once again face the legendary Lin Dan of China in the opening round.
NARASHINO: Tiger Woods said Monday his fitness was ahead of schedule after arthroscopic knee surgery, and dropped a heavy clue he might use one of his four Presidents Cup captain’s picks on himself. “I’m probably a week early. My season had ended a little bit earlier than I had expected it,” the 15-time major winner told reporters at Accordia Golf, Narashino Country Club near Tokyo before coming through an exhibition match unscathed.
“I had the procedure a little bit early and got ahead of it,” he added. Woods is in Japan this week to play in the US PGA Tour’s inaugural Zozo Championship, the second $9.75 million tournament of an almost $30 million three-event Asian swing.
He intends to end his year by playing in the Hero World Challenge beginning December 4, before going to Australia to captain Team USA in the Presidents Cup a week later.
Woods has a large depth of talent from which to make his four captains picks ahead of the match against Ernie Els’s International team at Royal Melbourne.
“I’ve been pretty consumed by it,” he said, adding his return to fitness made it more likely that he would use one of his wildcards on himself.
“It made me more hopeful that I could play this week, play Hero and play Australia,” said Woods, who has dropped one place to number 10 in Monday’s new world rankings.
“The way I was feeling towards the middle part of the year, it was going to be a tall order to be able to do it all.”