Saina Nehwal, P.V.Sindhu handed tough draws at India Open 2020

New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu have been handed tough draws at the upcoming India Open starting March 24. Saina will be facing Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po in her opening round while third-seeded Sindhu will begin her campaign against Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi.

Both the shuttlers are former champions of the World Tour Super 500 tournament. While Saina had won the tournament in 2015, Sindhu had clinched the women’s singles title in 2017.

In men’s competition, fifth-seed Kidambi Srikanth will open his tournament campaign against a qualifier and is expected to face compatriot Lakshya Sen — who will also be facing a qualifier — in his first-round contest. Sai Praneeth seeded third for the competition, will face H.S. Prannoy in the opening round.

Sameer Verma will face Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin, Sourabh Verma will be fighting it out against seventh seed Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei and Parupalli Kashyap will take on Thailand’s Khost Phetpradab in the first round.

The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will open against the Japanese duo of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.

However, the tournament is in doubt due to the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. More than 25 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported so far in the country.

The tournament holds importance for Saina and Kidambi who are racing against time to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics slated to be played from July 24 to August 9. IANS

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