World champion P.V. Sindhu will look to shake off her indifferent form and regain touch when she competes at the $775,000 Denmark Open badminton starting on Tuesday.
After claiming the World title in August, Sindhu endured surprise first and second- round exits at the China Open and Korea Open respectively last month.
World No. 6 Sindhu, who has not won a title in the BWF World Tour this season, will take on Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the first round of the World Tour Super 750 tournament. The Indian enjoys a 5-0 head-to-head record against the World No. 16.
Tough phase
World No. 8 Saina Nehwal, on the other hand, has been going through a tough phase with fitness issues hindering her progress since claiming the Indonesia Masters in January.
A finalist in the last edition, Saina, seeded eighth, will be up against World No. 12 from Japan Sayaka Takahashi, who had defeated the Indian the last time they meet at the Thailand Open in August.
Former champion K. Srikanth, who skipped the tournaments in China and Korea due to a knee issue, too will be eagar to make a positive start but he will have to get past Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in the opening round.
While Srikanth had beaten Antonsen at the 2017 World championships, the Danish shuttler has come a long way since then, having reached the final of the Worlds in Switzerland. Currently ranked fourth, Antonsen has won the Indonesia Masters, Barcelona Spain Masters, European Games and made it to the final of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 this year.
Sai Praneeth to meet Lin Dan
B. Sai Praneeth will be up against the legendary Lin Dan, who had entered the finals at Thailand Masters in January and won the Malaysia Open in April.
P. Kashyap has been in decent form this year. He reached the semifinals at India Open before making it to the last-four at Korea Open. The 33-year-old will open against Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin.
Returning to action after recovering from dengue will be H.S. Prannoy, who faces an uphill task against eighth-seeded Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the opening round.
Among other Indians, Thailand Open winners Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will square off against Korea’s Kim Gi Jung and Lee Yong Dae in men’s doubles first round.
Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy will face top seeds Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara of Japan in women’s doubles while the men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy will lock horns with England’s Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge.
