Badminton: Sindhu, Srikanth eye good show in Thailand Open

Star Indian shuttlers will look for consistency as they begin their campaign in the Thailand Open Super 500 badminton tournament

Bangkok: Following a decent show in Malaysia, star Indian shuttlers, including PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth, will look for consistency as they begin their campaign in the Thailand Open Super 500 badminton tournament beginning here on Tuesday.

While Sindhu had reached the semifinals last week, Srikanth signed off with a quarterfinal finish in Kuala Lumpur and the duo will look to go deep in the draw to keep their hopes of winning a title.

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Double Olympic medallist Sindhu had come close to breaking her title jinx when she reached the finals of Madrid Spain Masters but Srikanth has struggled since his epic run on way to the Thomas Cup victory last year.

The 27-year-old from Hyderabad, who slipped two places to world number 13 this week, will face Canada’s Michelle Li in the opening round, while Srikanth will look to take a few tips from HS Prannoy when he takes on Malaysia Masters finalist Weng Hong Yang of China.

While a win for Sindhu is likely to put her face-to-face with China’s sixth seed Wang Zhi Yi, Srikanth will have to compete with third-seeded Chinese Shi Yu Qi if he can cross the opening hurdle.

Lakshya Sen, who has slipped out of the top 20 following a dismal run this season, will open against Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei. Sen had lost to Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong in straight games last week.

Orleans Masters winner Priyanshu Rajawat will also be in the fray this week when he squares off against Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in the opening round.

After skipping Malaysia Masters, India’s top doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be back in action this week, taking on France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar.

Men’s pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala, women’s pair of Ashwini Bhat K and Shikha Gautam are also in the fray.