Korea Open: Opportunity to make amends for P. V. Sindhu

Sindhu will seek to quickly put behind the disappointment of an early exit at the China Open. She faces U.S.’s Beiwen Zhang in the opening round.

Published : Sep 23, 2019 18:37 IST , Incheon

If she makes it to the second round, P. V. Sindhu is likely to face Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong — her nemesis at the China Open.
If she makes it to the second round, P. V. Sindhu is likely to face Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong — her nemesis at the China Open.
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If she makes it to the second round, P. V. Sindhu is likely to face Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong — her nemesis at the China Open.

P. V. Sindhu will seek to quickly put behind the disappointment of an early exit at China Open as she resumes her quest for a BWF World Tour title at the Korea Open beginning here on Tuesday.

After having clinched the World Championships title, Sindhu was knocked out of China Open in the second round last week.

Sindhu will have to sort out the little things that had led to her early ouster in China, and turn her focus on the USD 400,000 Super 500 tourney in Incheon, where she faces U.S.’s Beiwen Zhang in a tricky opener. Sindhu had defeated Zhang en route to her World Championships gold at Basel; she will look to produce her best again against Zhang, who had defeated her twice last year at the India Open and the Denmark Open.

A win the first round may hand Sindhu a chance to avenge her loss in China as she is likely to face Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong again. Chochuwong had defeated Sindhu last week. Besides the World Championships final, Sindhu has reached the summit clash of only one BWF World Tour Final this year — the Indonesia Open Super 1000. But the title eluded her.

Time for a turnaround?

Saina Nehwal, the bronze medallist at the London Olympics, had clinched the Indonesia Masters early in the season, but hasn’t otherwise looked her usual self this year.

Saina, who has been bothered by health issues, lost in the first round of the Malaysia Open, the New Zealand Open, the Sudirman Cup and China Open. The eighth-seeded Saina will hope to turn around her indifferent form when she opens her campaign against South Korea’s Kim Ga Eun.

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Saina Nehwal hasn't looked her usual self this year. She will hope come back to form. Photo: AP
 

Saina has a 2-0 head-to-head record against Kim, and another win over her is likely to pit her against Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.

In-form Sai Praneeth

B. Sai Praneeth, who had ended India’s 36-year-old wait for a medal at the World Championships, will also look to continue his impressive run after a quarterfinal finish at China Open last week. Praneeth will face a tough opponent in fifth seed Anders Antonsen, who had returned with a silver from the World Championships last month.

P. Kashyap, who has looked impressive this season, will take on a qualifier in his opening round.

In the first round of the men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who had broken into the world’s top-10 after having won the Thailand Open last month, will face the fourth-seeded Japanese pair of Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda.

Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy will take on a qualifying pair.

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