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Saina Nehwal will be looking to turn around her All England disappointment by making a strong run at the Swiss Open
It was a rather dismal performance by Indian players at the Yonex All England Badminton Championships where, apart from Saina Nehwal, none of the other players were able to cross the opening round hurdle. The country’s shuttlers will be looking to put that disappointment behind them and start the next tournament on a positive note.
10 Indian players will be participating in the Yonex Swiss Open 2014 which will be held in the beautiful city of Basel from 11th March to 16th March.
This US$125,000 event is a Grand Prix Gold tournament, the third tournament of 2014 in this category after the India Grand Prix Gold in January and the German Open in February.
In the women’s singles category three Indian players will be in action. Star Indian shuttler and World No. 7 Saina Nehwal will start her campaign against a qualifier on March 12.
Saina, who recently lost in the quarterfinals of the All England Championships, would be looking to put up a much improved performance in this tournament. She had emerged as the winner in this tournament a couple of years ago and was a semifinalist last year.
The 23-year-old Indian shuttler, who ended her 15-month title drought after winning the India Grand Prix Gold tournament in January, could well play the current World No. 2 and Olympics silver medallist Wang Yihan in the quarterfinals.
Saina has been seeded third in the tournament. Wang Yihan is the top seeded player whereas her country mate Wang Shixian is the second seed.
World No. 9 and 2013 World Championships bronze medallist P.V. Sindhu, who was sent packing in the first round of All England, will play the 27th-ranked Spanish shuttler Beatriz Coralles in the opening round of the tournament.
Sindhu, who is also the seventh-seeded player in this tournament, might have to take on the World No. 4 and defending champion Wang Shixian in the quarters.
Wang Shixian will start her campaign against another Indian shuttler, World No. 66 Saili Rane.
In the men’s singles category, World No. 18 and Olympics quarterfinalist Parupalli Kashyap will start his campaign against the much lower-ranked Dutch opponent Erik Mejis.
Kashyap is the third seed in the tournament. World No. 4 Danish shuttler Jan O Jorgensen is the top seed whereas World no. 11 Korean star Wan Ho Son is the second-seeded player.
World No. 21 and fifth seed K. Srikanth will face the 42nd-ranked Swedish shuttler Henri Hurskainen whereas World No. 35 Anand Pawar will lock horns with the Malaysian shuttler Kok Pong Loke in the first round.
Anand and Srikanth are both in the bottom half of this category whereas Kashyap is in the top half.
In men’s doubles qualification, the young Indian pair of Tarun Kona and Jishnu Sanval will take on the local pair of Pierrick Deschnaux and Joel Koenig in the opening round. Kona and Sanval, who are the third seeds in qualification, need to win two matches to qualify for the main draw of the tournament.
In women’s doubles, 2011 World Championships bronze medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa will take on the Scottish pair of Imogen Bankier and Kirsty Gilmour in the first round.
In mixed doubles 36th-ranked Indian pair of Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponappa will play 29th-ranked Polish pair of Robert Mateusiak and Agnieszka Wojtkowska in the opener.
