All eyes, however, will be on Lakshya and Srikanth as they fight to get into the top 16 of the Race to Paris - Olympic qualification rankings after enduring contrasting fates last season.
World no. 16 Lakshya's only glimpse of fiery form came to the fore when he claimed the Canada Open Super 500 in July last year, but since then his form dipped. So much so that Lakshya had to endure a quarter-final defeat to Bharat Raghav at the 85th Senior National Championships.
World no.24 Srikanth, on the other hand, was inconsistent throughout the year. He could not even make it to a single semifinal despite playing four quarterfinals.
At the Malaysia Open, things are not going to be easy for Lakshya and Srikanth as they face tough competitors in China’s Weng Hong Yang and sixth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia respectively in the opening rounds.
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