Singapore Open Super 750 | Lots at stake for defending champion PV Sindhu, to face Akane Yamaguchi
In-form HS Prannoy will be overflowing with confidence as he will spearhead the Indian challenge at the Singapore Open Super 750 event commencing here on Tuesday. Defending champion PV Sindhu, who is looking to make a strong statement, lost in the first round of the Thailand Open last week.
Sindhu, coming into the tournament, will have a lot of pressure to win, anything apart from a title win would mean more loss of points for the world no. 13. With the Olympic qualification having begun now, it would be of utmost importance for her to be in the top-10.
But the road for her is not going to be easy at all, as she will be up against Akane Yamaguchi, the No. 1 player, in the first round itself. Prannoy, on the other hand, enters the competition fresh off a Malaysia Masters victory that ended a six-year championship drought and gave him his first BWF triumph.
He will face Japan's third-seeded Kodai Naraoka, one of the circuit's most entertaining players. Lakshya Sen, who made it to the semis of Thailand Open, will be up against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.
The world number four men's doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who won the French Open Super 750 last year, will face Japan's Akira Koga and Taichi Saito in the opening round, while MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will face the French team of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar.
In the first round, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand of the women's doubles team will take on Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam of Hong Kong.