Orleans Masters 2022 | Out of form B Sai Praneeth top seed in men's singles
A file image of B Sai Praneeth.
|(Getty)
Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth, ranked world no. 19, will start as the top seed in the men's singles at the Orleans Master 2022, to be held in France from March 29. The Tokyo Olympian has had a bad start to 2022 and is woefully out of form; now he would like to make amends and get a few wins.
Last week, at the Swiss Open, he lost in the Round of 32, against compatriot HS Prannoy. On the other hand, Praneeth will have for competition, defending champion Toma Popov Junior of France, seeded fourth, and 2018 winner Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands, seeded third.
In the first round, the Indian has received a bye already and will start his campaign in the pre-quarters of the tournament. Other Indians participating at the competition will be Shubhankar Dey, Priyanshu Rajawat, Chirag Sen, Kiran George, Mithun Manjunath, who all happen to be inside top-100 in the rankings.
Meanwhile, Aakarshi Kashyap and Malvika Bansod will lead India’s charge in the women's singles. While Kashyap will start her tournament against Yulia Susanto, Bansod, ranked 61, will be up against Qi Xuefei. Michelle Li from Canada is the top seed in the category.
In the men's doubles, Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala and Krishna Prasad Garaga start as the seventh seeds; but no Indian pair are seeded in the women’s doubles. As far as the mixed doubles is concerned, Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Castro are seeded seventh. Apart from that, a host of other Indian players will be looking to qualify for the main event too.
