BWF World Tour Finals: Sindhu leads India’s campaign; focus on Lakshya, Satwik-Chirag as well

Sindhu
eyes
second
title

The
only
Indian
to
win
the
prestigious
title
in
2018,
reigning
world
champion
Sindhu
was
a
finalist
at
the
event
the
year
before
and
she
will
look
for
another
good
outing
when
she
opens
her
campaign
against
top
seed
Pornpawee
Chochuwong
of
Thailand
in
group
A.

Sindhu,
a
two-time
Olympic
medallist,
has
been
consistent
with
three
semifinal
finishes
in
the
last
three
events
and
is
likely
to
make
it
to
the
knockout
stage.

The
26-year-old
from
Hyderabad
is
expected
to
finish
among
the
top
two
in
the
group
as
she
has
a
good
record
against
the
other
two
opponents
–
Denmark’s
Line
Christophersen
and
Germany’s
Yvonne
Li.

Srikanth
hopes
to
better
2014
run

Kidambi
Srikanth,
only
the
fourth
player
ever
to
win
four
Super
Series
titles
in
a
year,
has
looked
in
good
touch
in
the
last
few
events
with
semifinal
finishes
at
Indonesia
Masters
and
Hylo
Open.

The
former
world
No.1
had
reached
the
knockout
stage
of
the
year-ending
event
in
2014
and
he
will
look
to
relive
those
moments
when
he
begins
his
campaign
against
Malaysia’s
second
seed
Lee
Zii
Jia
in
group
B
which
also
comprises
France’s
Toma
Junior
Popov
and
Kunlavut
Vitidsarn
of
Thailand.

Debutant
Lakshya
Sen
in
tough
group

Debutant
Lakshya
has
been
clubbed
in
the
‘group
of
death’
and
it
will
be
extremely
tough
for
them
to
qualify
for
the
next
stage.

Lakshya,
who
had
won
five
titles
in
2019,
has
been
clubbed
in
Group
A
with
top
seed
and
Olympic
champion
Viktor
Axelsen,
two-time
world
champion
Kento
Momota
of
Japan
and
Denmark’s
Rasmus
Gemke.

The
20-year-old
from
Almora,
who
had
reached
the
finals
of
Dutch
Open
and
achieved
semifinal
results
at
the
Denmark
Masters
and
Hylo
Open,
will
open
against
Rasmus.

Satwik-Chirag
in
tricky
group

Like
Lakshya,
Satwik-Chirag
have
also
been
drawn
in
tough
group.
World
No.11
Satwik
and
Chirag
will
face
top
seeded
Indonesians
Marcus
Fernaldi
Gideon
and
Kevin
Sanjaya
Sukamuljo,
world
No.3
Chinese
Taipei’s
Lee
Yang
and
Wang
Chi-Lin
and
world
No.10
Denmark’s
Kim
Astrup
and
Anders
Skaarup
Rasmussen
in
group
A.

Ashwini-Sikki
face
second
seeds

In
women’s
doubles,
Ashwini
and
Sikki
will
have
to
compete
with
Japan’s
second
seeds
Nami
Matsuyama
and
Chiharu
Shida,
Bulgaria’s
Gabriela
Stoeva
and
Stefani
Stoeva,
and
Chloe
Birch
and
Lauren
Smith
of
England
for
a
place
in
the
knockout
stage.