Kidambi Srikanth-Kean Yew face-off on the cards as Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2022 draw announced

Fresh from their heroics at the recent World Championships, newly-crowned champions Loh Kean Yew and Kidambi Srikanth are likely to meet each other once again.

Silver medalist Srikanth and Singaporean winner Loh will compete at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2022, which will be held from January 11 to 16 in New Delhi.

The week-long tournament will be organized by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) under the auspices of Badminton World Federation.

Top seed Srikanth, who recently entered the top-10 in the world rankings, and Singapore’s Kean Yew have been drawn in the same half. The in-form duo of Srikanth and Loh are likely to clash against in a men’s singles semi-final showdown.

Srikanth to face compatriot Siril Verma in opening round

Kidambi Srikanth will face compatriot Siril Verma in the first round. Both Srikanth and Siril Verma have been practicing together at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy for the last several years. They know each other’s game quite well. It will be an interesting battle between experienced Srikanth and former top junior shuttler Siril Verma.

Siril was a silver medalist at the 2015 World Junior Championships. He reached a career high of World No. 1 in the world junior rankings in January 2016.

28-year-old Srikanth will face the winner of Subhankar Dey and Kim Bruun (Denmark) in the second round.

Lakshya Sen opens his campaign against Adham Elgamal of Egypt

In the lower half, in-form Lakshya Sen will start his campaign against Adham Elgamal of Egypt. 20-year-old Lakshya could face compatriot and World Championships quarter-finalist HS Prannoy on the last-8 stage. Prannoy is set to kickstart his challenge against Spaniard Pablo Abian.

Second seed B Sai Praneeth will also be looking to start the year on a high as he will take on Span’s Luis Penalver in the opening round. Tokyo Olympian Sai Praneeth could face Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto in the quarter-finals.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and 2021 World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen have received relatively easy passage in the initial rounds.

The USD 400,000 prize money Super 500 event, which is making a return after a two-year break due to the pandemic, will kickstart the 2022 BWF season.

The 11th edition of the prestigious tournament will be played at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall at Indira Gandhi Stadium.

“It has been a tough two years for all of us but we are very excited to host this tournament once again. Unfortunately, keeping players’ and other stakeholders’ safety as their topmost priority, this mega event will be played without spectators. BAI will ensure execution of this tournament under strict COVID protocols,” BAI General Secretary Ajay Singhania said on Thursday.

In the women’s singles, top seed PV Sindhu will begin her march towards a first title of the New Year against compatriot Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli. 26-year-old Sindhu could face Russian fifth seed Evgeniya Kosetskaya in the last-8 stage.

Indian badminton fans will be hoping for a marquee all-Indian summit clash between Sindhu and the former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal, who has received a relatively tough draw.

London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal is likely to square off against seventh seed Iris Wang of the USA in the quarter-finals. Fourth seed Saina could meet second seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the semi-finals.

India’s top pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who have been seeded second in the men’s doubles draw, will begin their campaign against compatriots Ravi and Chirag Arora. World No. 10 Satwik and Chirag are likely to meet fourth seed pair Ben Lane and Sean Vendy of England in the last-4 stage.

In the women’s doubles, second seed pair Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy will have an easy route to the Last-8. However, playing alongside Sumith Reddy, Ponappa will face a tough challenge in the mixed doubles. Ashwini-Sumeeth will be up against the second-seeded Russian duo of Rodion Alimov and Alina Davletova in their opening round match.