The India Open Super Series badminton tournament begins at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi tomorrow. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal will no doubt be the cynosure of all eyes. But but the event will hold more significance for the country's other shuttlers, who would look to prove their mettle at the highest level.While Saina will be the centre of attraction in thewomen's singles category, world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei would be no less sought-after in the men's section.World No. 2 Saina and the Malaysian star won the Singles titles in the inaugural India Open Superseries in 2011. This time, while Saina will spearhead the challenge in the women's category, while Lee Chong Wei will lead the challenge in men's category.In the absence of top Chinese shuttlers, Saina has beenseeded number one and handed a relatively easy draw. She will open her campaign against unseeded Belaetrix Manuputi of Indonesia in the women's singles event. Saina had beaten the Indonesian comfortably in the All England Badminton pre-quarterfinals last month. In fact, Saina is not likely to be challenged much in the first two rounds. But she may face some threat from compatriot P V Sindhu, who is seeded eighth in the competition.High on confidence having defeated former World No.1 Shixian Wang of China at the Badminton Asia Championships in Taipei last week, Sindhu might pose a challenge to Saina.Saina's first real test, however, is likely to be againstworld no. 8, Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the semi-finals.Intanon, seeded third in the competition, had recently got the better of the Indian in the semi-finals of the All England Championships. Saina, who won the tournament in 2010, failed to live up to the expectation in the last two editions.Meanwhile, in the men's singles event, top Indian player Parupalli Kashyap has got a tough draw. The world No. 7 will be facing former Olympic and world champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the very first round.Other Indians in the fray in the men's singles event areRMV Gurusaidutt, Ajay Jayaram, Anand Pawar, Sourabh Varma and B Sai Praneeth who would all be keen to make the most of the home advantage.While Gurusaidutt will be playing Tommy Sugiarto ofIndonesia in his opening round, Jayaram would take on theeighth seeded Sho Sasaki of Japan.Anand Pawar, Sourabh Varma and B Sai Praneeth are expected to cross the first-round hurdle without much trouble.As far as women's doubles is concerned, Coach Gopichand said he is hoping that the three Indian pairs — Jwala Gutta-Prajakta Sawant, Ashwini Ponnappa-Pradnya Gadre and Aparna Balan-N Siki Reddy — will be doing well in the tournament.
News On AIR | April 23, 2013 8:58 AM
Saina gets top billing in India Open starting in Delhi today