World No.2 Saina Nehwal is seeded second behind Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the women’s singles at the All England Badminton Championships, starting in Birmingham March 5.
Saina’s best performance at the Premier Super Series tournament came in 2010 when she reached the semifinals. The Hyderabadi will have adequate rest before reaching Birmingham as she is skipping the German Open Grand Prix Gold, beginning Feb 26.
No other Indian has been seeded, though P.V. Sindhu (women’s singles), Ajay Jayaram and Parupalli Kashyap in the men’s singles are in the main draw.
Jwala Gutta will be making a comeback after a six-month sabbatical following the London Olympics. Jwala will play mixed doubles with her long-term partner V. Diju while in the women’s doubles she and controversial Mumbai girl Prajakta Sawant in the qualifiers.
Ashwini Ponnappa, who had paired up with Jwala to win the World Championships bronze and the Commonwealth Games gold, is playing with Pradnya Gadre and she is playing the mixed doubles with Tarun Kona.
