Korea Masters 2018: Parupalli Kashyap and Sourabh Verma lead Indian challenge

With star shuttlers like P V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma opting to take rest, Parupalli Kashyap, Ajay Jayaram and Sourabh Verma will spearhead the Indian challenge at the Korea Masters, starting from November 27 .

Unseeded in the tournament, Parupalli Kashyap will start his campaign against Lee Dong Keun of Korea. This will be the fifth meeting between the two players with their head-to-head record tied at 2-2.

Kashyap hasn't had a good season so far. Various injuries have kept him out of the badminton circuit this year. But with the Tokyo Olympics qualifications starting next year, Kashyap will be trying to regain his lost momentum by performing better at this tournament.

On the other hand, Sourabh Verma has a very tough task to handle as he will face Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in the very first round. Sourabh will be trying to take inspiration from his younger brother Sameer Verma who recently won the Syed Modi International Badminton Championship and managed to qualify for the BWF World Tour Finals this year.

Former India No. 1 Ajay Jayaram will face another Indonesian, Shesar Hiren Rhustavito, in the first round. Their head-to-head record is tied at 1-1 with Shesar winning the last encounter in straight games.

In women's singles, World number 74 Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli will start her campaign against Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei. With players like Ratchanok Intanon, Sung Ji Hyun , Li Xuerui participating in the tournament, a gold for Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli hardly seems possible.

In men's doubles, Tarun Kona of India has partnered with Khim Wah Lim of Malaysia and they will face the Korean duo of Jin Has Ahn and Jin Soo Lim in the opening round .

No entries have been sent in the women's doubles and mixed doubles categories from India.