Hong Kong Open: Treesa-Gayatri, Priyanshu to spearhead lead Indian challenge

With India's senior players on a break following their Paris Olympics campaign, the youngsters will be eager to make a name for themselves at the Hong Kong Open Super 500, starting Tuesday.

The tournament will mark the return of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand to the BWF World Tour circuit.

The promising Indian women's doubles pair did not turn up for three tournaments in a row since they made a quarterfinal exit at the Canada Open.

The World No. 26 Indian pair, technically the country's highest-ranked women's doubles duo since Ashwini Ponnappa retired, gave a good account of themselves at the Singapore Open in June by making a third-place finish.

Treesa and Gayatri, however, failed to make it to the Paris Olympics on the back of a poor season.

Yet, they played a pivotal role in the Indian women's team's historic Badminton Asia Team Championships triumph in February in Malaysia.

Although Treesa and Gayatri are a talented pair, they struggled for years to exude consistency. At the Asia Team Championships, they pulled off the biggest upsets by beating the higher-ranked pairing of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan and Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand.

However, their form fell apart since, marked by injuries and poor form. Besides a semifinal finish at the Singapore Open, they drew blank in the subsequent events.

As they begin their journey in the new Olympic cycle (2024-2028), the 21-year-old duo will aim to achieve consistency and surge in the world rankings.

At the Hong Kong Open, Treesa and Gayatri will aim for a deeper run and instil a new belief in their game that they had displayed two seasons back.

Panada sisters - Rutaparna and Swetaparna - will be the other Indian women's doubles pairing competing at the event.

Priyanshu, India's biggest hope in men's singles

In men's singles, India's chances rest in the hands of youngsters such as Priyanshu Rajawat and Kiran Goerge who will compete in the main draw of the event.

Priyanshu, who won the Orleans Masters in 2022, recently finished third at the Canada Open. He will aim for a better show at the Hong Kong Open.

Chirag Sen and Manav Choudhary will compete in the qualification round.

With star shuttler PV Sindhu taking a break from the field, India will be represented by Aakarshi Kashyap and Tanya Hemanth in women's singles.

In men's doubles, unheralded Vaibhav Jadhav and Ashith Surya will be India's sole representatives.

In mixed doubles, experienced B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy will look for a deeper finish in the tournament.