BWF World Superseries | PV Sindhu handed easy draw; Kidambi Srikanth, Viktor Axelsen in same group
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PV Sindhu has been placed alongside the Japanese duo of Akane Yamaguchi and Sayako Sato, and China’s He Bingjiao in Group A in the BWF World Superseries. Kidambi Srikanth, on the other hand, has been placed in Group B of men's side alongside World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen, Chou Tien Chen, and Shi Yuqi.
Sindhu will begin her campaign against ninth-ranked He Bingjiao in the women's singles event and as per the format of the tournament, all the four players will meet each other in a round-robin format. After meeting Bingjiao in the first game, the Hyderabadi will meet Yamaguchi next and Sato in the last one in a bid to reach the semi-finals.
Sindhu has performed really well this year having won the India Open and Korea Open after reaching the final of the BWF World Championship in Glasgow. She also finished as the runners-up at the Hong Kong Open this season. And now, ahead of the season-ending finale, she is revelling in the pressure and is confident of doing well in the golf country.
“The pressure is always there and after the Olympics, the responsibilities are always high. But at the same time, I must say I have grown in confidence (since the Rio Games) and I believe I can do much better. See I wanted to win Super Series events after the Olympics and I have done. Dubai, of course, is different because the top-eight players are going to play. But I am confident I can do well,” the Rio Olympic silver medalist told The Indian Express.
The other group has world number one Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, Sung Ji Hyun of Korea, Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, and Chen Yufei of China. Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin and world champion Nozomi Okuhara have withdrawn from the elite competition to manage their workload.
Meanwhile, World No.4 Kidambi Srikanth has found a place in the Group B of men's singles along with World No.1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, Chou Tien Chen, and Shi Yuqi. Srikanth will be up against Axelsen in the very first match of the tournament on Wednesday.
Srikanth has been in phenomenal form this year, becoming the only Indian, and the fourth player ever, to win four Superseries titles in a calendar year. The Guntur-born shuttler won the Indonesia Open, Australia Open, Denmark Open, and French Open before being forced to give China Open and Hong Kong Open a miss owing to a thigh muscle strain that he had sustained at the National Championships in Nagpur last month.
