HS Prannoy will try to get back to his former form when he leads India’s badminton team at the Australian Open, which gets underway in Sydney on Tuesday.
HS Prannoy will try to get back to his former form when he leads India’s badminton team at the Australian Open, which gets underway in Sydney on Tuesday. Currently ranked sixth, Prannoy has struggled in his past two events. In the Thailand Open men’s singles opening round last month, he was taken aback by fellow countryman Meiraba Luwang Maisnam. In a 45-minute Round of 16 encounter at the Singapore Open, world No. 10 Prannoy fell to world No. 11 Kenta Nishimoto 13-21 21-14 15-21. As if that wasn’t enough.
And when the Indian starts his campaign against Brazil’s Ygor Coelho here in the BWF Super 500, he will be anxious to make a difference.
In the first round, Sameer Verma will play Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo, while eighth-seeded Loh Kean Yew of Singapore will provide a formidable foe for Ravi.
In the men’s singles, other Indians competing include Mithun Manjunath, who will face Alwi Farhan of Indonesia, Kiran Geoge, who will face Xiaodong Sheng of Canada, and S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, who will face top-seeded Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.
Aakarshi Kashyap, ranked seventh in the women’s singles, will spearhead the Indian challenge. She’ll take on Polina Buhrova of Ukraine in the first round.
Samiya Imad Farooqui faces a formidable opponent in top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, while Ashmita Chaliha takes on Ines Lucia Castillo of Peru, Anupama Upadhyaya faces Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ching, and an all-Indian match will pit Keyura Mopati against Malvika Bansod.
While Rutuparna and Swetaparna Panda, who are ranked eighth, and Harshita Rout and Sruti Swain will spearhead India’s charge in the women’s doubles, there is no representation from India in the men’s doubles division.
In mixed doubles, there are three pairs of Indians.
The third Indian mixed doubles pair of Ayush Raj Gupta and Sruti Swain will play against Australian duo of Jordan Yang and Sydney Tjonadi in the opener.
B, the eighth seed While Tarun Kona and Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli will face another Malaysian combination of Hoo Pang Ron and Cheng Su Yin, Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy will play the Malaysian tandem of Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien in their opening round.
In the first round, Australians Jordan Yang and Sydney Tjonadi will take on the third Indian mixed doubles team, consisting of Ayush Raj Gupta and Sruti Swain.
