Indonesia Open 2021: Matches to keep an eye out for - Where to watch, all you need to know

Following India's decent run at the 2021 Indonesia Masters where PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, and Kidambi Srikanth made impactful semi-final finishes, the Indian badminton stars will hope to inch closer to the medals at the SimInvest Indonesia Open 2021 that is due to start from November 23rd at Bali, Indonesia again.

Indian shuttlers have been doing well in the Indonesian leg of the BWF tour as we inch closer to the BWF World Tour Finals, soon to be followed by the World Championships in Spain. The Indonesia Open, which is a BWF Super 1000 tournament will be seeing the same flock of players who took part in the Indonesia Masters last week - but they will be hoping for a better showing definitely. However, the draw is definitely tricky and challenging for some of the players here.

As we head into the tournament, let's take a look at 5 delicious match-up's that are on the radar at the Indonesia Open 2021:

1. Lakshya Sen vs Kento Momota

As fate would have it, youngster Lakshya Sen will be tested once more by World No. 1 and recently crowned Indonesia Masters champion, Kento Momota in his opening round match. The World No. 19 Indian badminton sensation who has been on a brave streak of late - making it to the semi-finals of the Hylo Open 2021 as well, will have no other option but meet the highly-skilled Japanese. Kento Momota, who won the Indonesia Masters, defeating the third-seeded Anders Antonsen in straight games, returned to his title-winning ways after his car accident in 2020.

Fair enough, Momota is not in his 2019 invincible self and there will be chinks in his armor to spot - especially as he will enter this tournament after just a day's gap of the previous win. However, in the last meeting between Sen and Kento Momota - which was at the Round of 16 stages of Indonesia Masters, the Japanese World No. 1 made little of Sen, defeating him 21-13, 21-19. It remains to be seen if Sen can take advantage of Momota's exhaustion and build his strategy around that and hope for an upset.

2. PV Sindhu vs Aya Ohori

On the women's singles front, PV Sindhu will have to ensure that she doesn't repeat the hapless mistakes she made against Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-finals of the Indonesia Masters when she begins her bid for this Super 1000 title against Japan's Aya Ohori. However, Sindhu can come into the match with the comfortable and confident mindset that she has never lost to the World No. 21 player in all their 10 meetings previously. That said, there is no undermining the litheness of a Japanese player, and much like Yamaguchi, who has been on a roll, Sindhu will have to walk a little carefully to ensure that there is no major cause of concern.

3. HS Prannoy vs Kidambi Srikanth

Yet another re-play match on the list is an exciting clash with HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth featuring in it. The trio of Indian men's singles players of Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, and of course, former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth have been doing really well of late. Sen and Srikanth have been particularly consistent especially after Srikanth reached two back-to-back semi-finals at Hylo and Indonesia.

However, HS Prannoy who played a spirited match against Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in the Round of 16 of the Indonesia Masters and ousted him was tamed by Kidambi Srikanth in their quarter-finals, 21-7, 21-18. Naturally, Prannoy will be on the lookout to cause an upset but Srikanth, who might be a little exhausted, has also started to find the old sparks and won't be shown the door that easy. This will make for an interesting watch, especially for a first-round match where an all-Indian clash is there to tune into.

Here's all you need to know about the Indonesia Open 2021:

Tournament: SimInvest Indonesia Open 2021

Category: HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000

Dates: November 23rd, 2021 - November 28th, 2021

Prize Money: USD 850,000

Venue: Bali, Indonesia

When and where to watch the Indonesia Open 2021?

The Indonesia Open 2021 will be telecasted live from November 24th from 9:30 am on Star Sports 3 TV channel.

Where to live stream the Indonesia Open 2021?

The Indonesia Open 2021 can be streamed live on the Disney+Hotstar app.