World Championship: India’s PV Sindhu eyes title defence, faces tough opponents like Ying

Sindhu
has
been
in
impressive
form
as
she
claimed
her
second
silver
medal
at
the
season-ending
World
Tour
Finals
after
three
successive
semifinals
finishes
at
French
open,
Indonesia
Masters
and
Indonesia
Open.

The
26-year-old
from
Hyderabad
will
now
look
to
cap
the
season
with
a
successful
defence
of
her
maiden
World
championship
title,
which
she
had
claimed
two
years
ago
in
Basel,
Switzerland.

The
tournament
has
lost
a
lot
of
sheen
with
the
withdrawals
of
the
entire
Indonesian
contingent
and
other
elite
players
such
as
two-time
winner
Kento
Momota.

The
women’s
singles
field
also
has
been
left
depleted
after
the
withdrawal
of
three-time
champion
Carolina
Marin
and
2017
winner
Nozomi
Okuhara.

It
will
also
be
the
first
time
in
her
career
that
London
Olympics
bronze
medallist
and
2015
silver
medallist
Saina
Nehwal
will
miss
the
World
Championships
due
to
multiple
injuries.

While
Sindhu
will
fancy
her
chances,
retaining
the
title
will
still
be
much
easier
said
than
done
as
she
still
has
to
face
the
likes
of
ninth
seeded
Thai
Pornpawee
Chochuwong,
top
seed
Tai
Tzu
Ying
of
Chinese
Taipei
and
Korea’s
teen
sensation
An
Seyoung.

An
Seyoung
has
been
in
scintillating
form
as
she
claimed
back-to-back
titles
at
Indonesia
Masters,
Indonesia
Open
before
grabbing
her
maiden
World
Tour
Final
crown,
becoming
the
first
from
her
country
to
do
so.

Sindhu,
who
got
a
bye
in
the
first
round,
will
open
against
Martina
Repiska,
whose
first-round
opponent
Ruselli
Hartawan
also
pulled
out.

A
win
will
put
her
face-to-face
with
Pornpawee
Chochuwong,
who
has
defeated
the
Indian
twice
in
the
last
two
meetings.

If
Sindhu
can
get
across
the
Thai,
she
is
likely
to
be
pitted
against
Tai
Tzu,
who
has
proved
to
be
her
nemesis
with
a
head-to-head
record
of
14-5,
including
wins
in
last
four
meetings.

In
men’s
singles,
12th
seeded
Kidambi
Srikanth,
who
struggled
to
get
a
visa,
will
face
Spain’s
Pablo
Abian
in
his
opener,
while
Tokyo
Olympian
B
Sai
Praneeth
meets
Dutch
Mark
Caljouw.

Former
top
10
player
HS
Prannoy
will
be
up
against
eighth
seed
Ng
Ka
Long
Angus
and
young
Lakshya
Sen’s
first-round
opponent
has
also
withdrawn.

The
men’s
doubles
field
has
also
been
left
depleted
with
the
top
two
seeds
—
both
from
Indonesia
—
missing
in
action.

The
eighth
seeded
Indian
pair
of
Satwiksairaj
Rankireddy
and
Chirag
Shetty
has
got
a
bye
in
the
first
round
and
will
face
the
winners
of
Lee
Jhe-Huei
and
Yang
Po-Hsuan
and
Fabricio
Farias
and
Francielton
Farias
in
doubles.

The
women’s
doubles
pair
of
N
Sikki
Reddy
and
Ashwini
Ponnappa
will
take
on
14th
seeds
Liu
Xuan
Xuan
and
Xia
Yu
Ting
after
their
first-round
opponents
withdrew.