Indian shuttlers seek China Open success in build-up to Asian Games

Fresh from winning his maiden World Championships bronze medal HS Prannoy will spearhead Indias campaign alongside Lakshya Sen who will strive to regain top form before the Asian Games at the China Open Super 1000 Tournament beginning here on TuesdayThere will be no Indian in the womens singles as star shuttler PV Sindhu has pulled out in a lastminute decision to focus on the Asian GamesSindhu who clinched a silver at the last Asiad was pitted against Koreas Kim Ga EunKerala shuttler Prannoy had a dream run at the Worlds last month where he stunned world No 1 and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen en route to his bronze medal Prannoy who achieved his careerhigh world ranking of No 6 on the back of the World Championships show will open his campaign against Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia Should he overcome the opening round Prannoy could potentially face world No 4 and thirdseed Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand in the round of 16 a competitor he has yet to defeat in their two previous faceoffsAlso ReadPrannoy signs off with a bronzePrannoy could potentially face world No 9 Jonatan Christie from Indonesia in the quarterfinals and if the Indian manages to advance further he even set the stage for a rematch against topseeded Axelsen in the semifinalsCommonwealth Games champion and former world championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen however could not repeat his 2021 show and had a disappointing outing at Copenhagen last month going down to Vitidsarn in the round of 16Lakshya will look to test his skills against the best as he starts off against Anders Antonsen of DenmarkLakshya on the other hand has a tougher path with the possibility of facing seventh seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the round of 16 and world No 1 Axelsen in the quarterfinalsPriyanshu Rajawat is the other Indian in mens singles main draw as he takes on Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia in the opening roundIn the mens doubles Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to get over the disappointment of their quarterfinals exit at the World Championships with an improved show hereThe Indian duo is seeded second and open its campaign against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of IndonesiaM R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will take on Japanese duo of Keichiro Matsui and Yoshinori TakeuchiAll eyes will also be on the womens doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand as they face topseeded Chinese pair of Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi FanThe Indians will face the Chinese duo less than two weeks after they went down to them in the World ChampionshipsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever