P.V. Sindhu Aims to Get Back to Winning Ways at Thailand Open Badminton Tournament

Bangkok: Star shuttler P.V. Sindhu will look to get back to winning ways after a seven-month-long title drought, at the Thailand Open badminton tournament starting here on Tuesday.

Sindhu succumbed to two back-to-back defeats at the Indonesia Open and the Japan Open. She was ousted from both the Indonesia Open and the Japan Open by the same opponent, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.

At Tokyo, Sindhu lost in straight games in the quarterfinal. In the Indonesia Open, Sindhu suffered a defeat at the hands of Yamaguchi in the final. Sindhu will open her singles campaign against unseeded Chinese Han Yue, whom she easily overcame in the first round of the Japan Open.

Saina Nehwal is the other heavyweight Indian in the fray. Saina was forced to withdraw from both the Indonesia and Japan Open due to injury. She will take on a qualifier in the opening round here.

In men’s singles, Shubhankar Dey has got a tough opening round against top seed Kento Momota of Japan, while B Sai Pranneeth will lock horns with Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen.

Kidambi Srikanth will take on a qualifier, while H S Prannoy will be up against Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong in the opening round.

Sameer Verma will face Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia while Parupalli Kashyap will take on France’s Brice Leverdez. In men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will face each other in the opening round.

In the women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy will be up against the Chinese duo of Li Wen Mei and Zheng Yu in the opening round. In mixed doubles, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy will meet the Japanese pair of Kohei Gondo and Ayane Kurihara while the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ponnappa will take on Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia. IANS

Also Read: P.V. Sindhu’s Run at Japan Open Ends, Praneeth Enters Semis