Sindhu eyes consistent run, Sameer looks for good outing at French Open
New Delhi: India’s double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu will look to iron out her flaws when she competes at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament, starting here on Tuesday.
Playing her first event in two months, Sindhu looked a bit sluggish at last week’s Denmark Open, where she lost in the quarterfinals to fast-rising Korean An Seyoung.
She had struggled past Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan to reach the last-eight stage.
Sindhu, the reigning world champion, didn’t have any plan B against An, who didn’t allow the Indian to play her attacking game.
The 26-year-old from Hyderabad, who will open against Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen this week, will need to get her aggressive self back and also strengthen her defense if she hopes to reach the podium.
She is likely to come across opponents like Denmark’s Line Christophersen and Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan or Scotland’s Kristy Gilmour in the next rounds.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, who was troubled by a groin injury at the Uber Cup Final but played at Denmark Open only to lose in the opening round, will hope to make a winning start when she opens against Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi here.
In men’s singles, all eyes will be on Sameer Verma after his stunning run last week.
The 25-year-old from Madhya Pradesh stunned world number three Anders Antonsen in Odense before retiring from the quarterfinals against Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto due to a calf injury and he will need to be at the top of his game when he faces sixth seeded Indonesian Jonatan Christie.
Kidambi Srikanth will get another chance to avenge his last week’s loss when he faces world number one kento Momota of Japan in the opening round.
