Indian shuttlers look to dominate Iran tournament; all eyes on Simran-Ritika duo

Indian shuttlers will look to dominate the 30th Iran Fajr International Challenge 2022 which starts in Shiraz on Monday. The five-day tournament is being organized by the Badminton Asia Confederation under the auspices of Badminton World Federation.

Several Indian players will be seen in action at the annual tournament, which gets under way with qualification rounds.

Indian shuttlers feature prominently in the seedings list. Women’s doubles pair of Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker have been given top billing.

The world No 78 pair of Simran and Ritika have got a bye in the first round and are likely to face Russia’s Ekaterina Malkova and Anastasiia Shapovalova in the second round.

Mumbai-based Simran and Nagpur’s Ritika are the only Indians in women’s doubles.

Five Indians seeded in men’s singles

Five Indians have been seeded in the men's singles, with Kartikey Gulshan Kumar the sixth seed in a draw of 64. World No 104 Kartikey will play a qualifier in the first round.

Xiaodong Sheng of Canada has been given the top billing. The world No 72 will lock horns with India’s Aman Farogh Sanjay in the first round.

Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian is seeded 11. The Tamil Nadu player won the Under-19 boys singles title at the same venue a couple of days ago and will look to carry his form into the senior category.

Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian is eager to extend his fine run in Iran (PC: Subramanian Muthusamy)

Maisnam Meiraba, seeded 12, is another Indian teenager to be watched out for, while Harshit Aggarwal (14) and Abhishek Yeligar (15) will also be eager to justify their seeding in the tournament.

Tasnim Mir dark horse in women’s singles

India's Prerana Neeluri and Ananya Praveen have been given sixth and eighth seeding respectively in the women’s singles.

Despite being unseeded, India's junior world No 1 Tasnim Mir will be one of the hot favorites to win the women’s singles crown. The Iran tournament will only be her third senior international competition.

Samayara Panwar, who won the Under-19 girls singles crown in Iran a couple of days ago, will look to extend her superb run in the women's singles.

Seeded Indian players

Men’s singles

6. Kartikey Gulshan Kumar

11. S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian

12. Meiraba Luwang Maisnam

14. Harshit Aggarwal

15. Abhishek Yeligar

Women’s singles

6. Prerana Neeluri

8. Ananya Praveen

Women’s doubles

1. Simran Singhi-Ritika Thaker.