The Japan Super Series badminton tournament gets underway with the qualifiers in Tokyo tomorrow. World No. One Saina Nehwal will look to continue her rampaging form when she opens her campaign at the 275,000 US Dollar event on Wednesday. Second seed Saina will play against Thailand's Busanan Ongbumrungpan in her first match. A win is likely to pit her against compatriot and two-time bronze medallist at the World Championship P V Sindhu, who will face Japan's Minatsu Mitani, ranked 18th, in the first round. Among other Indians, World No. 4 Kidambi Srikanth is the only one to be seeded in men's singles. In men's singles, Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will square up against Japan's Takuma Ueda. Dutch Open champion Ajay Jayaram will take on seventh seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and H S Prannoy will meet Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong. With World No. 2 Jan O Jorgensen withdrawing due to a stomach infection, India's B Sai Praneeth has been upgraded to the main draw. In women's doubles, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, who recently won the Canada Open, will meet eighth seeded Chinese combo of Zhao Yunlei and Zhong Qianxin, while Pradnya Gadre and N Sikki Reddy will fight it out with Japanese top seeds Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi in the opening round.
News On AIR | September 7, 2015 7:41 PM
Japan Super Series badminton tournament gets underway