The star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will try to maintain consistency in their performance by defending the title in the Indonesia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament starting here on Tuesday, keeping the Olympics in mind. India’s top seeded pair is considered a strong contender to win the gold medal in the Paris Olympics.
His performance has been good this season. He reached the finals of four tournaments, out of which he was successful in winning French Open and Thailand Open. However, he could not perform well against Indonesia and China in Thomas Cup. Apart from this, he was eliminated in the early stages of All England Open and Singapore Open last week.
Satwik and Chirag became the first Indians to win a Super 1000 tournament by winning the Indonesia Open last year. They will now try to improve on the mistakes of last week and repeat last year’s performance. Their first match will be against Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee. There will also be pressure on two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, who would like to gain confidence before the Paris Olympics.
Reaching the final of the Malaysia Open would have boosted her morale but losing the title match against China’s Wang Zhi Yi despite leading 11-3 is a matter of concern. Top players like An Se Young, Chen Yu Fei, Akane Yamaguchi and Carolina Marin did not play in the Malaysia Open but they will challenge in the Indonesia Open and in such a situation the road will not be easy for Sindhu.
If Sindhu defeats Wen Chi Soo of Chinese Taipei in the first round, then she may have to face Marin, to whom she lost in the quarter-finals last week. In men’s singles, India’s eyes will be on HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen. Lakshya will start his campaign against Kanta Sunayama of Japan. If he reaches the quarter-finals, he may face defending Olympic champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen, to whom he lost last week.
Prannoy, who has been battling health issues this season, will face compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat in the first round. Former world number one Kidambi Srikanth and Kiran George will also present their challenge. In the first round, Srikanth will face Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo while George will face China’s Wang Hong Yang.
In women’s doubles, the Olympic-qualified pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa will open their campaign against Canada’s Jackie Dent and Crystal Lai. Another Indian pair of Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will face Cheng Yu Pei and Sun Yu Hing of Chinese Taipei.
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