World Badminton Championships 2017: Schedule for Indian players on Day 4

As it has always been the case in major events, the focus of the Indian challenge has come down to its singles players. Sans some of the fresh names, Indian singles stars reached the pre quarter-finals of the BWF World Championships 2017 that are currently underway in Glasgow. Two-time bronze medallist P.V. Sindhu, 2015 silver medallist Saina Nehwal, eighth seed Kidambi Srikanth, Ajay Jayaram and in-form B. Sai Praneeth, all advanced to the next round.

Debutants Sameer Verma, Rituparna Das and Tanvi Lad besides the doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy fell to their respective opponents. The star performer from the Indian camp was Praneeth, who recorded a brilliant come-from-behind win over 26th ranked Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in three games.

Day 4 of the Championships will witness some of the edge-of-the-seat encounters. For the Indians, they too have tougher draws from here on. From the three doubles pairs, only one Pranav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikky Reddy had advanced on Wednesday, and the 15th seeds will start the Indian proceedings taking the court against Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto.

In men’s singles, Praneeth, the 15th seed, will have another tough opponent in Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen, seeded sixth. Though Praneeth, winner of the Singapore Open and Thailand Grand Prix Gold, has a 0-2 record against Tien with the latest loss coming in the India Open Super Series. However, the way the Indian youngster is playing in this maiden Worlds, one can only expect some great results for young Hyderabadi.

Srikanth will meet the energetic Anders Antonsen of Denmark and should make it to quarter-finals, while Ajay Jayaram, the 13th seed, takes on defending champion Chen Long. The Indian has lost all his five matches against Long in their career meetings.

In women’s singles, two-time bronze medallist P.V. Sindhu will square off against 13th seed Cheung Ngan Yin of Hong Kong, and is expected to march ahead. Silver medallist in 2015 edition, Saina Nehwal will play her second game against second seed Korean Sung Ji Hyung at the Emirates Arena. With a head-to-head advantage of 7-2, Saina is expected to advance but she need to be in her top form to overcome the tricky South Korean, who was the losing finalist at the Dubai Superseries Finals.

Here is the full schedule of the Indian players in action on Day 4 (Kindly note that the timings are in IST and are approximate ones as they subject to change according to the duration of the matches in the order of play.)

Men's singles

Kidambi Srikanth [8] vs Anders Antonsen [14] – 5 pm

Ajay Jayaram [13] vs Chen Long [5] – 6.30 pm

B. Sai Praneeth [15] vs Chou Tien Chen [6] – 7. 30 pm

Women’s singles

P.V. Sindhu [4] vs Cheung Ngan Yi [13] – 5. 30 pm

Saina Nehwal [12] vs Sung Ji Hyun [2] – 9 pm

Mixed Doubles

Praveen Jordan/ Debby Susanto [7] vs Pranaav Jerry Chopra/ N. Sikki Reddy [15] – 4.30 pm