Sindhu, Sen to lead Indian challenge
India's latest badminton sensation Lakshya Sen and double Olympic medalist P V Sindhu will lead the Indian campaign at the Korea Open Super 500 tournament starting here on Tuesday.
With back-to-back finals at German Open and All England Championships, Sen is is in the form of his life and will look to be third time lucky as he opens his campaign against World No. 25 Lu Guang Zu of China.
It will not, however, be an easy outing for Sen as the men's singles draw boasts of some tough competitors such as the Indonesian duo of Anthony Ginting (top seed) and Jonatan Christie (third seed), world champion and fourth seed Loh Kean Yew, second seeded Malaysian Lee Zii Jia and the formidable Thai Kunlavut Vitidsarn, seeded eighth.
Sen, the world championships bronze medalist, had scooped his maiden Super 500 crown at the India Open in January before making two final appearances and he will be keen to lift the second title of the season here.
Sindhu, on the other hand, claimed two Super 300 titles this season at the Syed Modi International and Swiss Open and the third seeded Indian will look to continue her fine run when she begins against USA's Lauren Lam. Aya Ohori is likely to be her next opponent, while two wins will put her face-to- face with either left-handed Supanida Katethong or Busanan Ongbamrungphan
— both from Thailand. London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal has looked a pale shadow of her usual self in the past one year and a half and the Indian will be hoping to put up a better show when she begins against Japan's Asuka Takahashi. Among all the Indian shuttlers, if there is one who has shown tremendous grit in the face of adversity is H S Prannoy, who battled against multiple health issues to make his first final in three years at Swiss Open. Though it ended with a narrow defeat, Prannoy, a former top 10 player, will be keen to unleash his 'beast' mode on the court once again when he opens against Cheam June Wei of Malaysia. Kidambi Srikanth, seeded fifth, also has been playing well but has struggled to finish close matches and that aspect would be high on his mind when he battles Malaysia's Liew Daren.