indian-shuttlers-brace-for-tough-draw-at-indonesia-masters

Indian shuttlers will look to rediscover form after a disappointing home campaign when they face a demanding draw at the USD 500,000 Indonesia Masters, which begins in Jakarta on Tuesday.

 

The tournament comes close on the heels of the India Open in New Delhi, where India endured a modest showing. Lakshya Sen exited in the men’s singles quarterfinals, while no Indian player progressed beyond the last eight in any category. Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi and Korea’s world number one An Se Young clinched the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively.

 

Attention now shifts to Jakarta, where Indian players are set to encounter higher-ranked opponents in the opening rounds.

 

Seventh seed Lakshya, the Australia Open champion last year, will be keen to make amends after his last-eight defeat to Lin in New Delhi. He opens his campaign against Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh, while HS Prannoy faces a stern challenge against Malaysia’s former world No. 2 and Paris Olympics bronze-medallist Lee Zii Jia.

 

Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, who reached the finals of the Malaysia Masters and Syed Modi International last year, will take on Japan’s Koki Watanabe, while Tharun Mannepalli is drawn against Yushi Tanaka of Japan.

Also read: India Open Badminton: Lin Chun-Yi, An Se Young clinch titles

US Open champion Ayush Shetty has been handed a tough opening-round match against third seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, the India Open finalist. The 20-year-old will be eager to improve after a first-round exit last week.

 

In women’s singles, fifth seed PV Sindhu, returning after recovering from a foot injury, begins her campaign against Japan’s Manami Suizu. The world No. 12 had suffered an opening-round loss at the India Open to Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh.

 

Promising youngster Tanvi Sharma, the junior world championships silver-medallist, faces fourth seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan. Sharma impressed in New Delhi, pushing Tokyo Olympics champion Chen Yu Fei to three games.

 

Teenager Unnati Hooda will test herself against top seed Chen Yufei, while Malvika Bansod is up against sixth seed Michelle Li of Canada.

 

India will also be represented in the men’s doubles qualification, with Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun competing in the fourth qualifying round.