Saina Nehwal resumes race to make her fourth straight Olympics in badminton

Reigning world champion P V Sindhu will probably be desperate to return to the rostrum as former winner Saina Nehwal appears to regain her contact within the season-opening Swiss Open match starting on Tuesday.
Indian males’s singles gamers, too, have tasted success on this match with Sameer Verma, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth rising victorious in 2018, 2016 and 2015 respectively and B Sai Praneeth ending runners-up within the final version.
All 4 will probably be seeking to relive the moments and lengthen India’s good run on the USD 140,000 occasion which will even resume the prolonged Olympic qualifying interval.
It was right here at St. Jakobshalle venue that Olympic silver medallist Sindhu had claimed the world championship gold in 2019, her final title earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic disruption.
The 25-year-old from Hyderabad, seeded second, will look to go the gap once more as she opens her marketing campaign in opposition to Turkey’s Neslihan Yigit.
Sindhu didn’t have a great outing within the three occasions in Thailand lately however the street to the quarterfinal right here appears clean for the Indian the place she is prone to confront fifth seed Thai Busanan Ongbamrungphan, an opponent she had overwhelmed on the Toyota Thailand Open in January.
Two-time former winner Saina, too, is in the identical half however the senior professional must overcome gamers like Korea’s sixth seed Sung Ji Hyun and fourth seeded Danish Mia Blichfeldt — whom she is prone to meet — to arrange a semifinal face-off with Sindhu.
Former world primary Saina, who turns 31 this month, is on the fag finish of an illustrious profession, having slipped to 19 within the BWF rankings however she nonetheless has the starvation to make it to a different Olympics.
The London bronze medallist will hope to make a optimistic begin when she opens in opposition to Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan, a former world junior championships bronze medallist.
All eyes will even be on world quantity 10 males’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty after their semifinal end at Toyota Thailand Open.
The Indian pair, seeded second, would look to stretch its good run, particularly after a month-long coaching session beneath new doubles coach Mathias Boe of Denmark.
The Indian duo will face Scotland’s Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley within the opening spherical.
Expectations will probably be excessive from Satwik and Ashwini Ponnappa as properly after their last-four end on the earlier occasion. But it will likely be an uphill climb for the duo because it faces second seeds Indonesians Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja first up.
In the lads’s singles, it will likely be an all-Indian present when Sameer takes on former world primary Kidambi Srikanth within the opening spherical.
While Sameer appeared good at Toyoya Thailand Open, Srikanth too appeared to have discovered his rhythm on the World Tour Finals in January.
It will probably be a battle of nerves as each have misplaced a whole lot of matches from successful positions of their profession.
Former world quantity eight HS Prannoy will open in opposition to Mark Calijouw of the Netherlands, whereas Sourabh Verma takes on Switzerland’s Christian Kirchmayr.
Ajay Jayaram will meet Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin and Parupalli Kashyap will sq. off in opposition to Spain’s Pablo Abian.
Olympic hopeful Praneeth, who was pressured to withdraw from the final occasion in Thailand after returning optimistic for COVID-19, will hope to shine when he clashes with Israel’s Misha Zilberman.
Young Lakshya Sen, who missed the Thailand occasions as a result of an damage, too will probably be rearing to go when he opens in opposition to Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk.
Among different Indians within the fray, Pranaav Jerry Chopra, who had examined optimistic for COVID late final yr, will probably be again in motion after a protracted hiatus when he pairs up with N Sikki Reddy and takes on third seeded English pair of Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith within the combined doubles.
Young males’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila too will look to place up a present when the Indians face Russia’s seventh seeds Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov.
The Super 300 occasion will probably be essential for the Olympic hopefuls with the BWF extending the qualification interval for the Tokyo Games until June 15.