Nehwal leads Indian challenge at Denmark Superseries Premier 2015
World’s top-ranked women’s singles player Saina Nehwal will return to international competition at this week’s Denmark Open, a Superseries Premier badminton tournament starting Tuesday in Odense, that will feature some of the world’s biggest names in the race for the year-end Superseries honours.
Unlike a few years ago, when India at best had one or two torchbearers in global badminton, the country will be represented by six players in singles play and a doubles pair each in the men’s and women’s sections in the premier tournament, signifying the growing rise of the country as a force to reckon with.
Top-seeded Nehwal, who missed the Korea Open Superseries two weeks ago to recover from a leg injury after her early exit at the Japan Open, is joined by compatriot PV Sindhu in the women’s singles main draw. Twice World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu, ranked number 13 in the world, is in the bottom half where she will open against Indonesian Maria Febe Kusumastuti.
Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap are seeded fifth and eighth, which are also their respective world rankings, in the men’s singles draw, while world number 16 HS Prannoy figures in the bottom half of the draw along with Srikanth.
World number 26 Ajay Jayaram, who was originally to play in the qualifiers, was subsequently given a main draw spot due to player withdrawals. Jayaram is riding a wave of success following his maiden Superseries final at the Korea Open and title defence at the Dutch Open Grand Prix on Sunday.
Nehwal will be gunning for her third title of the season at the Denmark Open, which she previously won in 2012, after titles at this year’s India Super Series and Syed Modi Grand Prix. The 25-year-old will open against Thailand’s Busanan Ongbumrungphan on Wednesday, and is unlikely to be tested until the quarterfinals if she plays to her reputation.
The Hyderabad girl’s biggest challenge will come against her fiercest rival, Spanish world number two Carolina Marin. Although Nehwal leads Marin 3-2 head to head, the Spaniard won the last two meetings –the final of all-England and the World Championship.
“It’s a good sign that excellent players are making a mark from countries other than China,” Nehwal told Deccan Herald newspaper, referring to Marin. “At the same time, the Chinese players cannot be underestimated. We need to be on our toes all the time to get favourable results.”
“It is not very easy to be at your best in a game like badminton. There is a lot of pressure being world number one. Every day is a challenge,” added Nehwal, who regained the top spot in August following the silver medal finish at the World Championship in Jakarta.
The path until the quarterfinals is pitted with dangerous opponents for the Indians in the men’s draw.
Kashyap will open against former world number one and twice Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. Chong Wei returns to the country he will remember for one of the darkest episodes of his career- the failed dope test at last year’s World Championship in Copenhagen that led to an eight-month ban.
The Indian has never beaten the Malaysian ace in six meetings. World number one Chen Long also figures in Kashyap’s quarter of the draw.
“The Danish Open Super Series will offer bigger challenges. I am looking to take the positives from this tournament (Dutch Open) and give my best next week,” Jayaram told the Indian media on Sunday.
Prannoy will start against Hsu Jen Hao of Chinese Taipei, and if he progresses has Japanese world number four Kenko Momota as his possible second round opponent. Srikanth, meanwhile, was to originally kickstart his campaign against Thailand’s Tanangsok Saensomboosuk, but will meet compatriot Jayaram instead, with a probable face-off against Danish world number two Jan O Jorgensen in the quarterfinals.
In the doubles, men’s pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, fresh from back-to-back runner-up finishes in Bulgaria and Dutch Open, will start Britons Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge, while 2014 Commonwealth Games women’s silver medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa return to action after missing the Korea Open with an opening round against Japanese seventh seed Reika Kakiiwa and Miyuki Maeda.
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