BAC: Sindhu, Prannoy, Doubles pair ousted, India’s campaign ends
This was Sindhu’s first loss against the Chinese shuttler in six meetings.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and World no 8 HS Prannoy, will spearhead 12-member Indian challenge at the Indonesia Open badminton tournament, to be held from June 13 to 18 in Jakarta.
Sindhu, currently 13th in the women’s singles world rankings, will open her campaign against Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.
The Indian lost her last two meetings against the world No. 9 Tunjung this season – the first in the final of the Madrid Spain Masters and then in the semis of the Malaysia Masters.
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Even if she breaks her losing streak against Tunjung, Sindhu faces a potential clash against Chinese Taipei’s world No. 3 Tai Tzu Ying, the defending Indonesia Open women’s singles champion, in the second round.
Saina Nehwal will face world No. 7 Wang Zhi Yi of the People’s Republic of China in her first match while Aakarshi Kashyap will take on world No.2 An Se Young of the Republic of Korea in the round of 32.
In the men’s singles, Prannoy, winner of the Malaysia Masters last month will face Japan’s world No. 11 Kenta Nishimoto in his first-round match.
Commonwealth Games 2022 champion Lakshya Sen, who is currently 19th in the BWF world rankings, will take on world No. 10 Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the round of 32.
Meanwhile, former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth will play Lu Guang Zu in the opener.
Doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, ranked fifth in the BWF World rankings, face Indonesian duo of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, the reigning Asian Games champions, in the round of 32. The Indian doubles pair won the Swiss Open 2023 crown in March.
In the women’s doubles event, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, will clash with Japan’s Rin Iwanaga Kie Nakanishi in their opening match.
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