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Indian shuttlers will aim to improve on a rather disappointing season so far as they begin their campaign at the BWF World Championships 2019 to be held in Basel, Switzerland from August 19.
All eyes will be on a possible semi-final clash between the two women superstars, PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, but before they manage to reach that stage, quite a few hurdles wait for them.
A possible third-round clash with ninth seed Beiwen Zhang will give the fifth seed Sindhu enough reason to worry although it needs to be mentioned that the Rio Olympic silver medallist did show resurgence in her run to the final in Indonesia last month.
Sindhu, a four-time medallist at this prestigious tournament, needs to continue playing with that same ferocity and belief for she could have a quarter-final showdown with former World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying. The prospect of that, in all likelihood, won't be something Sindhu would be relishing, considering her shabby head-to-head record against the Chinese Taipei star.
Indonesia Masters champion Saina Nehwal returned from a bout of injuries at the Thailand Open but an early exit doesn't bode well for her chances at the World Championships. The two-time medallist Saina needs to step it up when she faces the fourth seed Chen Yufei in the quarter-finals. The Chinese has been one of the most in-form players on the Tour this year and has won her last two encounters with the Indian with consummate ease.
In men's singles, seventh seed Kidambi Srikanth looked to be struggling with confidence issues during a hectic schedule last month. The World No. 10 needs to immediately overcome that if he wants to make a deep run at this tournament where a medal has always eluded him.
A potential third-round face-off with 12th seed Kantaphon Wangcharoen and a quarter-final showdown with the second seed Chou Tien Chen necessitates the Indian to be at his flawless best.
10th seed Sameer Verma, who had the best season of his career last year, has also been having a slump this year. The 10th seed could meet the Indonesia Open champion Chou in the third round.
For 16th seed Sai Praneeth, a run to the semi-finals in Tokyo was a showcase of his immense talent. What he now needs is to show that same conviction in his strokes for sixth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting awaits him in the third round.
HS Prannoy, the only Indian unseeded in the men's singles draw, can stun anyone on his day if he remains injury-free. The Kerala ace would look to play fearlessly when he comes up against 11th seed and five-time champion Lin Dan in the second round and top seed Kento Momota in the pre-quarter-finals after that.
Here is all you need to know about the BWF World Championships 2019:
Tournament: Total BWF World Championships 2019
Category: Grade 1 - Individual tournament
Location: Basel, Switzerland
Where to watch the matches in India?
The matches will be live telecast on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2 HD from August 19.
Live Stream Details and Info for the matches:
Live Stream for the matches is available on hotstar.com
