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P V Sindhu and P Kashyap will be the top Indian names participating in the Yonex Japan Open Super Series that starts tomorrow in Tokyo.
World No. 4 Saina Nehwal has decided to skip the tournament for more rest ahead of upcoming tournaments in Europe.
Sindhu is joined by Tanvi in the women’s singles. The men’s singles, on the other hand, sees several Indians participating, including Ajay Jayaram, Sai Praneeth and K Srikanth.
Saina will feature in the Denmark Open in October, after being advised to skip all tournaments till the European circuit starts, by coach Pullela Gopichand. She does not have any points to defend as well at the Japan Open. In Denmark, on the other hand, Saina is the defending champion.
Saina is yet to win a major title this year, although she did lead her team to victory in the Indian Badminton League last month.
It will be interesting to see how Sindhu performs at the Japan Open. This will be her first international event after her bronze medal winning exploits at the BWF World Championships last month.
She was also beaten comprehensively twice by Saina Nehwal in the IBL, to whom she has been compared of late. However, at just 18, she still has time to grow. Hopefully, the burden of people’s expectations will not prove to be too great for the youngster.
Sindhu will take on qualifiers in the first two rounds, and may meet Chinese World No.1 Li Xuerui in the quarters.
Kashyap, ranked No.13, will meet World No.22 Sho Sasaki in the first round. Kashyap trails the Japanese 0-2 in the head to head, and if he does manage to win, may meet World No.1 Chen Long next.
K Srikanth will also be keenly watched after his recent success in the IBL, where he beat the likes of World No.19 Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, who is ranked 19 places higher in the world rankings.
Another Indian shuttler expected to do well is Ajay Jayaram, who is also riding high after success in the IBL. Jayaram is ranked 23 in the world, but beat World No.9 Jan O Jorgensen in the tournament. He also beat World No.5 Tien Minh Nguyen twice, and even took a set off Malaysian World No.1 Lee Chong Wei.
Jayaram will take on Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the first round.
Full list of Indian players:
Women’s: PV Sindhu, Tanvi Lad
Men’s: P Kashyap Ajay Jayaram, K Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, Saurabh Verma, Sumeet Reddy & Manu Attri (doubles), Pranaav Jerry Chopra & Akshay Dewalkar (doubles)
Coach: Madhumita Bisht
