Badminton Asia Team C'Ships: PV Sindhu to play women's doubles match vs Japan in semifinal

PV Sindhu, India's star women's singles player, has been slotted to play two matches on Saturday when India goes up against Japan in the semifinal of the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam in Malaysia.

Sindhu will open India's bid for a place in the final by taking on Aya Ohori against whom she enjoys a 13-0 record. But two matches later, she may have to pair up with Ashwini Ponnappa for the second women's doubles rubber.

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will play the second match of the tie against world no. 6 Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida.

In the third match, Ashmita Chaliha, 24, will have her task cut out against former world champion Nozomi Okuhara, while 17-year-old Anmol Kharb, the baby of the team, has been slotted to play world no. 29 Natsuki Nidaira in the fifth match of the tie.

The order of play in a tie is decided by the ranking of the players.

Hence Treesa and Gayatri will play the second women's singles match as they are ranked 23rd. Though Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto are ranked higher at 21st, they have not been slotted to play the second match of the tie.

Crasto suffered a niggle during Friday's quarterfinal clash against Hong Kong, confirmed the Badminton Association of India (BAI). So she has been ruled out of the semifinal clash.

In the wake of this development, the Indian team management asked Sindhu to step up to form a scratch pair with Ponnappa. As their combination is unranked, they will play the second doubles match against Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto.

Though India has Priya Devi Konjengbam-Shruti Mishra on standby as the third-choice women's doubles pair in the squad, India decided to bank on Sindhu and Ashwini's experience in this crucial tie.

Sindhu, in the past, formed a scratch pairing with Saina Nehwal during team events, including the Uber Cup.