Badminton Asia Championships 2023 | Indians handed tough draws, PV Sindhu could face An Se Young
Top Indian shuttlers have been handed out tough draws at the upcoming Badminton Asia Championships, which will start on April 25 in Dubai. The likes of PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, and the duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/ Chirag Shetty will be the highest-placed Indians in the tournament.
Sindhu, who had won a bronze medal in the previous edition, will find the going tough this year, as she has had an ordinary year making only one finals appearance. She will be up against the world No. 17 Wen Chi Hsu in her opening clash. From there on, the Indian could face, Han Yue in the second, and An Se Young in the quarters.
Other women's singles players in the fray, Malvika Bansod, and Aakarshi Kashyap will be up against Akane Yamaguchi and Ratchanok Intanon, respectively. If Saina Nehwal gets past the first round, she would be up against He Bing Jiao in the second.
In the men's singles event, Lakshya Sen will face Loh Kean Yew in the first round. Post that he could be up against Jonathan Christie in the second. Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth is expected to play Kodai Naraoka in the second round. As far as the men's doubles are concerned, Satwik and Chirag could face Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan at some point.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will play Indonesia's Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribka Sugiarto in the first round. They could also be up against Supissara Paewsampran and Puttita Supajirakul of Thailand, the sixth seed.