Korea Open | Kidambi Srikanth to miss as Saina to lead Indian challenge

This has been a busy month for international shuttlers with back to back tournaments in Japan and China. With Korea Open set to start now, Srikanth has decided to skip it giving Sameer Verma to be at the helm. Though hampered by injuries Sameer has the distinction of being the only other Indian male shuttler to make the Hong Kong Open final after Prakash Padukone, who won the tournament in 1982.

The women’s singles would be shouldered by Saina Nehwal, who has won the Commonwealth Games gold and the Asian Games bronze this year. But, her form has dipped in the recently concluded China Open where she was ousted by Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun in the first round itself. She had won the China Super Series back in 2014.

Apart from the above players, the Indian team will also comprise of youngster Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka, ranked 55th in the world, who will take on sixth seed Beiwen Zhang of USA in the opening round.

In the qualifiers would be playing Ajay Jayaram, the silver medalist in 2015 Korea Superseries. He will take on China’s Zhao Junpeng, while compatriot Vaidehi Choudhari and Mugdha Agrey will also try their hands at the qualifiers in the women’s singles category.