HONG KONG, Sep 8: Fresh from their World Championships bronze medal, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will once again spearhead India’s challenge at the Hong Kong Super 500 badminton tournament, beginning here on Tuesday.
The world No. 3 duo, who produced a superlative show in Paris to clinch their second Worlds bronze, have been India’s most consistent performers this season with several semifinal finishes on the BWF Tour, including events in India, Malaysia, China and Singapore.
The eighth seeds will open their campaign against Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who showed glimpses of her prime form at the Worlds with a demolition of China’s Wang Zhi Yi before falling in the quarterfinals, will look to build on that performance when she faces Denmark’s Line Christophersen in the opener.
US Open champion Ayush Shetty, one of the rising stars this year, has a tough first-round clash against China’s Lu Guang Zu.
Former world No. 6 Lakshya Sen, still searching for rhythm after his fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics, will look to regain confidence when he takes on Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei.
The 24-year-old has been plagued by narrow losses and niggles, and suffered a first-round exit at the Worlds against top seed Shi Yu Qi.
HS Prannoy, who went down fighting against Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in Paris, faces another stiff challenge against Japan’s fifth seed Kodai Naraoka in the first round.
In women’s singles, Anupama Upadhyaya meets fourth seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan, while Rakshitha Ramraj runs into Thailand’s former world champion and fifth seed Ratchanok Intanon.
Among doubles, the men’s pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi and the women’s duo of Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda will be in action.
In mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, quarterfinalists at the Worlds, face Chinese Taipei’s Chen Cheng Kuan and Hsu Yin-Hui, while Rohan Kapoor and Gadde Ruthvika Shivani take on second seeds Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping of China.
The qualifiers feature an all-Indian clash between former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth and Tharun Mannepalli.
Srikanth remains the only Indian to have reached a Super 500 final this year, finishing runner-up at the Malaysia Masters.
Kiran George will take on Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei, while S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian faces Canada’s Wang Yue Hang. (PTI)
