All England Open | Saina Nehwal to open campaign against World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying
Indians have been handed tough draws in All England Open as Saina Nehwal opens against top-ranked Tai Tzu Ying, while Kidambi Srikanth takes on Brice Leverdez. PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy have been given easier fixtures and will play Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong and Taiwan’s Chou Chen respectively.
Chinese Taipei’s Tai has been a thorn in Nehwal’s career so far, with the Indian ace managing to beat her just once in all the head-to-head games. She has lost to Tai on their last seven occasions with the last one being as recent as in the Indonesia Open earlier this year. The world number 11 Indian ace would have to come up with something special this time if she is to progress further in the oldest and one of the most prestigious badminton tournaments in the world.
Sindhu, Nehwal’s compatriot and perhaps India’s biggest hope in the tournament, will take on Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong in the opening round. However, she has a big chance of facing Beiwen Zhang, who defeated her in India Open final, in the next round.
In the men’s singles, Srikanth opens his campaign against France’s Brice Leverdez. B Sai Praneeth and HS Prannoy will, however, face higher-ranked opponents Korea’s Son Wan Ho and China’s Chou Tien Chen respectively.
In the doubles events, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who reached the semifinals of Indonesia Open, will face Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan. However, in case they advance into the second round, they are very likely to go up against second seeds Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark.
The All England Open has prize money of $1,000,000 and is scheduled to be held from March 14-18 in Birmingham.
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