Badminton News: PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will look for consistency in their quest for the season-opening title when they start their campaign at the Korea Open Super 500, which has lost some of its luster following the withdrawal of several key players, including Lakshya Sen.
A title has eluded PV Sindhu this year with more than half the season now over. He is yet to put together a winning streak in a week after returning from a five-month injury absence following a broken ankle.
The double Olympic medalist reached the final of the Spanish Masters in Madrid, his best result of the season. He showed a spark when he reached the semi-finals of the Canadian Open, but was knocked out in the quarter-finals at the next event after losing to China’s Gao Fang Jie in the US Open recently concluded.
India’s world number 12 needs to recover from the loss quickly as he opens his campaign in the Super 500 tournament against Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po. A favorable result should oppose the Chinese Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei.
With new coach Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, a former English champion, also traveling with him this week, PV Sindhu will hope he finds his bearings quickly in the Olympic qualifying period which ends in April next year.
Kidambi Srikanth, a silver medalist at the 2021 World Championships, also qualified for the quarter-finals of the Spain Masters, Malaysia Masters and Indonesia Open.
The former world number one is hoping to put on a good show this week when he opens his match against Kento Momota of Japan after training with his new coach Wiempie Mahardi of Indonesia.
While the titles eluded Sindhu and Srikanth, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy managed to claim the Super 500 crowns in Canada and Malaysia this year.
This week, however, Sen will be missed as he pulled out of the tournament, but fifth seed Prannoy will be hoping to maintain his form when he opens his match against Belgium’s Julien Carraggi, who was promoted after Sameer Verma withdrew from India.
All eyes will also be on Indonesia Open champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty when they take on Thai duo Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren in men’s doubles.
The third-seeded Indian duo, who also won the Swiss Open Super 300 title, have been in sensational form this season and will be one of the favorites for another title.
The men’s singles draw will also feature Orleans Masters champion Priyanshu Rajawat, national champion Mithun Manjunath and 2022 Odisha Open winner Kiran George.
Tags: PV Sindhu, kidambi srikanth, Korea Open 2023
