Welcome to the Sportskeeda liveblog of the India Open 2018 first round match of PV Sindhu. The Indian, who is the defending champion of this tournament, is the top seed.
While Sindhu is ranked third in the world, her opponent Natalia Koch Rohde is placed at 43rd in the world. This is their very first meeting.
Rohde has four titles to her name, but all of them have been at the International level. The last one of her titles came in 2016.
Sindhu is thus indeed a tough challenge for the Dane. The Rio Olympic silver medallist would be itching to lay her hands on a trophy after a quarter-final exit from the Indonesia Masters last week.
And there is no better place to do that than the India Open, where she will have a lot of home support.
This should be one breezy opener for the lanky Indian and she is expected to win without much hassle.