Badminton
PV Sindhu looks to regain form in Canada Open
The Super 500 Canada Open, starting on Tuesday, will see participation from some of India's top shuttlers looking to recapture form in this crucial Olympic qualification year.
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will lead the charge at Canada Open (Source: Badminton Photo)
Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu will look to regain form and secure crucial ranking points at the Canada Open World Tour Super 500 tournament starting in Calgary from Tuesday.
Sindhu has hit a rough patch since her return from injury, dropping to No.12 in the women's singles rankings. The former world champion and two-time Olympic medallist is still fighting to regain full fitness.
To make up for lost time, the 27-year-old needs to perform well in the ongoing Paris Olympics qualification cycle, which runs from May 1, 2023, to April 28, 2024.
Sindhu, who sustained a stress fracture en-route to winning her maiden Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham last year, was part of India's bronze medal win at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships at Doha in February but has missed a few World Tour events this year.
Her best this year has been a sliver at the Madrid Masters Super 300 event in April and since then she has made first round exits in two tournaments, while in another, she lost in the second round.
Sindhu finds herself in a relatively easy draw here, facing local challenger Talia NG in the opening round.
Eighth seeded Japan's Nozomi Okahara, against whom Sindhu has a 9-8 win-loss record, is likely to be the Indian's quarterfinal challenger, should they overcome their respective first and second round hurdles.
Sindhu is in the half of top-seeded Akane Yamaguchi.
The Japanese defeated Sindhu in the Singapore Open last month, but the Indian still holds a 14-10 win-loss advantage over Yamaguchi.
Lakshya Sen among others to take take part
Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen too has slipped out of top-10 with a slew of first round exits this year.
The 19-ranked Sen has a tough road ahead as he is up against second seeded Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the opening round. The Thai shuttler is a World Championship silver medallist in Tokyo last year and a three-time junior world champion.
In the men's doubles, the Indian challenge will be led by Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Panjala, who open their campaign against Julien Maio and William Villeger of France.
The Indian duo had suffered a first round exit in the Taipei Open Super 300 event last month.
Men’s Singles: Lakshya Sen, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, Parupalli Kashyap, Sai Praneeth
Women’s Singles: PV Sindhu, Tasnim Mir, Gadde Ruthvika Shivani
Men’s Doubles: Krishna Prasad Garaga/ Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala
Women’s Doubles: Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponappa, Rutuparna Panda/Swetwarna Panda
Mixed Doubles: B Sumeeth Reddy/Ashwini Ponappa, Bokka Navaneeth/Priya Konjengbam, Sai Pratheek/Tanisha Crasto
(With PTI inputs)
