Badminton
French Open 2021: All eyes on PV Sindhu and Satwik-Chirag — Schedule, Where to watch, Live Stream details
Looking to get into the right gears, Indian badminton players will seek to redeem themselves, led by PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Satwik-Chirag.
PV Sindhu (Source: BWF)
After a bittersweet outing at the 2021 Denmark Open where the Indian badminton players stopped short of making the last four stages of the BWF Super 1000 event, they will be back to redeem themselves at the 2021 French Open. Scheduled to be held at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris, France from 26th October to 31st October of this month, the BWF Super 750 tournament will attract the big names from India like PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Sameer Verma, Kidambi Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the mix.
The US$600,000 tournament is only the sixth one of the 2021 BWF season after the COVID-19 pandemic played spoilsport to the regular calendar of events. After a dismal performance at the Sudirman Cup, India regained their face by packing in some solid performances at the Thomas & Uber Cup Finals earlier in the month. Followed by that outing, there was a slight but noticeable drop in the performance of the Indian shuttlers at the recently concluded Denmark Open. However, arriving in the French capital, India's double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and 2019 French Open Men's Doubles runners-up pair of Satwik-Chirag have a lot to prove, along with the other Indian badminton players who are eyeing for consistency in form.
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫 😃
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) October 25, 2021
Top 🇮🇳 shuttlers- sindhu, satwik, chirag, ashwini, saina, srikanth & more will be in action as 2021 edition of #FrenchOpenSuper750 starts tomorrow 🏸
📅 October 26-31, 2021
📍 Paris, France#IndiaontheRise#badminton pic.twitter.com/c1HYgOHG2W
In the men's singles, former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth has a tough job on his plate as he has to face reigning World No. 1 Japanese, Kento Momota in the first round itself. Meanwhile, Sameer Verma who recently upset Denmark's Anders Antonsen will be looking to continue his good form against Indonesia's Jonatan Christie. Sourabh Verma will also have to ace past another Indonesian, Anthony Ginting, the bronze medallist from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Parupalli Kashyap has to face-off against Frenchman Brice Leverdez while B. Sai Praneeth and Lakshya Sen will lock horns for an all-Indian clash and HS Prannoy has to tame Chou Tien Chen, the fourth seed at the event.
In the women's singles, all eyes will once again be on Saina Nehwala and PV Sindhu as both try to create ripples like before. While PV Sindhu suffered a loss to the young Korean, An Se-young in the quarters of the Denmark Open, the double Olympic medallist and reigning World Champion will be looking to get back to her winning ways as she opens her campaign against Julie Dawall Jakobsen of Denmark. Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal's form has been really scratchy and she is yet to win a match since her return to the circuit. At the French Open, Nehwal's challenge will come in the form of Sayaka Takahashi, the Japanese World No. 15.
In the men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be eager to create the magic like they did in 2019 before losing to the Minions in the finals of the French Open. In any case, Satwik-Chirag are on a good roll ever since the Thomas Cup and they will look to continue that momentum against the Taiwanese pair of Lee Jhe-Huei/Yang Po-Hsuan. For MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila, the challenge will lie in the form of an Irish pair of Joshua Magee and Paul Reynolds. Finally, the combine of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy will take on Korean duo - Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baekcheol.
For the women's doubles, it will be again Ashwini Ponnappa/N. Sikki Reddy against the Korean top seeds, Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan. The younger pair of Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram will have to face Netherlands' Alyssa Tirtosentono and Imke Van Der Aar.
Finally, in the mixed doubles, it will be Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa pairing up against Mathias Thyrri and Mai Surrow. Dhruv Kapila and N. Sikki Reddy will meanwhile take on the fifth seeded pair from Malaysia - Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying. Lastly, the duo of MR Arjun and Maneesha K will have a tough job on their plate as they are slated to clash against top seeds, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai from Thailand.
India's squad for French Open 2021
Men's Singles - Kidambi Srikanth, Sameer Verma, Sourabh Verma, Parupalli Kashyap, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, B. Sai Praneeth
Women's Singles - Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu [3]
Men's Doubles - MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty [5], Manu Attri/B. Sumeeth Reddy
Women's Doubles - Ashwini Ponnappa/N.Sikki Reddy, Meghana Jakkampudi/Poorvisha S Ram
Mixed Doubles - MR Arjun/Maneesha K, Dhruv Kapila/N. Sikki Reddy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Ashwini Ponnappa
Where to watch French Open 2021?
The French Open 2021 will be shown on Star Sports 3 from October 28, 2021.
Where to live stream French Open 2021?
The French Open 2021 can be streamed live on the Disney+ Hotstar app.
