Saina skips Singapore Superseries for Asia Championships preparation

04/10/2017

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Saina Nehwal withdrew from this week's Singapore Superseries to focus and prepare for the Asia Championships to be held in Wuhan in China between April 25 and 30. She made a strong comeback this January by winning the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold after a career-threatening knee injury.

"Yes, I withdrew from the tournament as I feel I need some more time training to get better. There is improvement in the knee but I think some more training will help at this point," Saina told PTI. "I will play Asia Badminton Championship next. I will also play the Indonesia Super Series and Sudirman cup," the London Olympics bronze medallist added.

Saina lost to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the first round of the Malaysia Open earlier this month. Meanwhile, PV Sindhu is drawn to play Japan's Nozomi Okuhara first in the Singapore event. Sindhu clinched her maiden Indian Open this season that saw her rise to No 2 in the world rankings.

Rituparna Das, the national champion, will lock horns with Hsu Ya-ching of Taiwan after making it to the women's singles main draw.

Ajay Jayaram, who beat world No 2 Viktor Axelsen en route to the quarterfinals at the Malaysia Open, will open against fifth-seeded Chinese Shi Yuqi, runner-up at All-England.

Kidambi Srikanth will look to make a winning return to competitive action after skipping the Malaysia Open.

In men's doubles, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will open against the Japanese pair of Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda. In women's doubles, Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy will take on the Malaysian pair of Yin Loo Lim and Yap Cheng Wen.

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