Competition: China Open Superseries 2016
Date: 15 November, Tuesday to 20 November, Sunday
Venue: Haixia Olympic Sport Center, Fuzhou
TV Coverage: Star Sports network (In India)
Live Streaming: BWF official YouTube channel
Badminton action is going to get underway as China Open is all set to begin from 15th November, the tournament which will run until 20th November will feature some of the top-seeded badminton stars.
The Indian challenge at the Superseries will be led by some of the best Indian shuttlers including PV Sindhu, the Rio Silver medalist and Saina Nehwal, the 2014 China Open conqueror, who will be making a comeback in the tournament.
P.V Sindhu after Rio has not had a good run and was knocked out from the 2nd round of Denmark Open. Saina will start her campaign against Buranaprasertsuk P. of Thailand and Sindhu will go head to head against Lee Chia.H. Both Saina and Sindhu have proved their dominance before and can easily outplay any opposition.
Spaniard Carolina Marin will also be back in action in the tournament and will open her account against the Chinese Ji Shuting .
The absence of Lin Dan in the tournament will be a big advantage for the new shuttlers in the league. Meanwhile, the Malaysian ace Lee Chong Wei has confirmed his presence in the league and will be back in action to regain his magical touch at the Rio Olympics.
In the men’s category for India, the major responsibility would be on the shoulders of Prannoy Kumar, Kidambi Srikanth and Sai Praneeth, who will face Ng Ka L.A, Hu Y. of Hong Kong and Zweibler M. of Germany respectively in their opening games.
Saina and Sindhu are both the strongest contenders for the title but both will have to go against the likes of Carolina Marin, Nozomi Okuhara and Ratchanak Intanon to grab the championship medal. The Indian men will also have to go against the best shuttlers if they wish to come out on top.
If it all goes well for India, and Sindhu and Saina qualify for the subsequent stages of the tournament, then they would most likely meet in the quarterfinals which will ensure Indian presence on the court in the Semifinal and hopefully even in the finals.
The list of players and key events are as follow:
Men's singles
Lee Chong Wei (Mas)
Chen Long (Chn)
Viktor Axelsen (Dnk)
Jan O Jorgensen (Dnk)
Tian Houwei (Chn)
Chou Tien Chen (Twn)
Son Wan Ho (Kor)
Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (Dnk)
Women's singles
Carolina Marin (Esp)
Ratchanok Intanon (Idn)
Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn)
Saina Nehwal (Ind)
Tai Tzu Ying (Twn)
Sung Ji Hyun (Kor)
PV Sindhu (Ind)
Sun Yu (Chn)
Schedule of key matches on 16 November, Wednesday
Time: Matches start from 7:30am IST/2am GMT
Men's Singles
Chen Long [2] v Tommy Sugiarto
Viktor Axelsen [3] v Boonsak Ponsana
Jan O Jorgensen [4] v Wang Tzu Wei
Tian Houwei [5] v Hsu Jen Hao
Chou Tien Chen [6] v Qiao Bin
Son Wan Ho [7] v Shi Yuqi
Hans-Kristian Vittinghus [8] v Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk
Women's Singles
Ratchanok Intanon [2] v Akane Yamaguchi
Nozomi Okuhara [3] v Yip Pui Yin
Saina Nehwal [4] v Porntip Buranaprasertsuk
Tai Tzu Ying [5] v Aya Ohori
Sung Ji Hyun [6] v Nitchaon Jindapol
PV Sindhu [7] v Lee Chia Hsin
Sun Yu [8] v Busanan Omgbamrungphan
