Daunting task for Sindhu and Srikanth at World Tour events
INDIAN shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth need to shrug off the disappointments of the last two weeks as they gear up for the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals, beginning in Bangkok on Wednesday (27), Indian badminton officials said.
World champion and Olympic silver medallist Sindhu, who had won the prestigious title in 2018, is in Group B alongside top-ranked Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei and home favourites Ratchanok Intanon and Pornpawee Chochuwong.
Sindhu’s comeback to international badminton after the coronavirusinduced break did not go as well as she might have expected.
The Indian, who has been training in London for the last few months, could not go the distance after losing a close opening match in the Thailand Open, the first of the Asia leg.
In the second event last week,
Sindhu suffered a demoralising straight game defeat against former world champion Intanon in the quarterfinals. She will have to rally from that loss as she opens her campaign against Ying, who reached the finals in both the Thailand Opens.
Former world number one Srikanth, on the other hand, is in Group B with Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei and NG Ka Long Angus from Hong Kong.
Srikanth, who had reached the semifinals of the BWF Super Series
Masters Finals in 2014, did not spend enough time on the court.
He had pulled out of the first Thailand Open ahead of the second round due to a calf muscle injury, while he was forced to withdraw after the opening round last week after his roommate B Sai Praneeth tested positive for Covid-19.
The delayed Season finale, with a prize money of $1.5 million, features only the top players in men’s and women’s singles and eight pairs in the three double events, divided into group stages. It will be followed by the knockout, with the top two players/pairs from each group making it to the semifinals.
The draw for the group stage was conducted in Bangkok on Tuesday by BWF {Badminton World Federation) and Badminton Association of Thailand (BAT) officials while observing Covid-19 protocols.