Lucknow: Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu recovered from an unexpected defeat in the semi-finals of the India Open 2022 to end the title drought through the Syed Modi International Badminton Tournament, starting on Tuesday. Will try Sindhu has not been able to win the title since the 2019 World Championship. She could have made up for that shortfall at last week’s India Open but was beaten in three games by Supanida Ketthong in the semi-finals.
Sindhu, who finished last year’s Swiss Open and World Tour Finals runner-up, will face compatriot Tania Hemant in the opening match of the Syed Modi International. She can play Supanida in the semi-finals. Canada’s Michelle Li, seeded second, will also be among the top medal contenders. All eyes will be on Poland’s eighth seed Jordan Hart, second seed US Iris Wang and Russia’s fifth seed Evgenia Kostetskaya. In men’s doubles, Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who won the India Open, are not playing in the tournament.
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At the same time, Lakshya Sen, who has been playing continuously since October last year, may also stay out of it after winning the India Open. World Championship silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth could not play the India Open due to corona infection and will not be able to play here due to mandatory seven-day isolation. Third seed B Sai Praneeth is awaiting the RT-PCR test. He had succumbed to the infection even before the India Open. Ashwini Ponnappa and Manu Attri are also yet to recover from the infection.
HS Prannoy, who finished in the top 10, had lost to Sen in the India Open quarter-finals. He will launch campaign against Ukraine’s Danilo Bosniuk here. London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal will face Teresa Swabikova in the first round. She lost in the second round of India Open. Saurabh and Sameer Verma, Shubhankar Dey, Kiran George, Mithun Manjunath and Priyanshu Rajawat will be seen in the men’s section. In the women’s section, Akarshi Kashyap would like to continue her good form, who will play Mugdha Agre in the first round. Everyone’s eyes will also be on Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha, Ira Sharma. (agency)