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Two-time national champion Sayali Gokhale failed in her quest to qualify for the main draw of the Badminton Asia Championships at Chinese Taipei on Tuesday. Her loss means that PV Sindhu will be the only Indian women’s singles player in action in the first round.
India’s best player Saina Nehwal has given the contest a miss because she wants to prepare for her home India Open later this month. Sindhu starts her campaign against Tsz Ka Chan of Hong Kong and is slated to meet third seed Wang Shixian of China in the second round.
Sayali Gokhale won her first round of qualifying against Kavindi Sirimannage of Sri Lanka, 21-16 21-14, but was outplayed by Hsu Ya Ching of Chinese Taipei in the second round of qualifying. Sayali won a closely-fought first game, but Hsu wrapped up things in the second and third, 21-23 21-10 21-10.
The Asian Championships have seen the Chinese turning up in near full-strength. After some indifferent performances over the last few months after the Olympics, both the Olympic finalists, Li Xuerui and Wang Yihan, are due to begin their campaign on Wednesday. Xuerui takes on a qualifier, while Yihan has an equally easy match, against Hera Desi of Indonesia.
Sayali Gokhale
Five of the top Chinese are in the fray. Apart from Li Xuerui and Wang Yihan, there are Wang Shixian, Jiang Yanjiao and Han Li. Xuerui and Yihan have been below-par in recent tournaments. Both Yihan and Xuerui crashed out in the first round of the All England and Korea Open. Xuerui, who dominated all of 2012, has had a poor year so far, with two first round losses and one third round loss at the German Open, all to lightweight opponents.
But the Asian Championships are expected to be a different proposition, for the Chinese pride themselves on their ability to dominate in Asia. Xuerui is the reigning champion, and it will be interesting to see if she can successfully defend her title.
Meanwhile, the other Chinese, such as Jiang Yanjiao, Wang Shixian and Han Li, will have their own goals. Yanjiao is a two-time winner (2007 and 2008), but in recent years she has been overshadowed by the top two. Shixian and Han Li have never won this event.
While it is difficult to look beyond the Chinese for the gold medal, there are some dangerous floaters in the draw. Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, after an inspiring run at the All England, will be keen to win her career’s first major senior title. The other player to watch out for is Tai Tzu Ying, who is just as gifted, but inconsistent. Having taken Asian All Stars to the bronze medal at the recent Axiata Cup, she might pose Wang Yihan some trouble in their expected quarterfinal duel.
