Sindhu, Chirag-Satwik get first round byes, will open against unseeded Srikanth Nishimoto
Kuala Lumpur (IANS) Top Indian shuttler PV Sindhu and star men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been given first round byes at the BWF World Badminton Championships after the draw was announced on Thursday.
The draw ceremony for the 28th edition of the World Championships, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from August 21 to 27, was held at the Badminton World Federation headquarters in the Malaysian capital.
Former world champion Sindhu has been seeded 16th in the women’s singles draw. The five-time medalist will open her campaign in the second round where she will face either Thuy Linh Nguyen of Vietnam or familiar rival Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.
Notably, Okuhara had defeated Sindhu in the final of the 2017 World Badminton Championships but the Indian star came out on top in the 2019 final in Basel.
In men’s doubles, second seeds and bronze medalists from the previous edition, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will open against Ireland’s Joshua Magee and Paul Reynolds or Australians Kenneth Tze Hui Choo and Ming Chuen Lim in the second round.
Meanwhile, the Indian shuttlers got a favorable draw in the men’s singles. India’s top-ranked ninth seed HS Prannoy will open his campaign against world No. 56 Kalle Koljonen of Finland while 11th seed Lakshya Sen, bronze medalist of the 2021 edition, will take on Mauritius’ world No. 110 Georges-Julien Paul. Will start
2021 finalist Kidambi Srikanth, ranked 20th in the Badminton World Rankings, was unseeded in the draw and will face a very tough opponent in the form of Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, ranked 15th in the world.
In women’s doubles, 15th seeds Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who got a bye in the first round, will take on either Chinese Taipei’s Chang Ching Hui and Yang Chin Tun or Estonia’s Kati-Kreit Marran and Helina Rutel in the second round.
In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and N. Sikki Reddy will take on Scottish pair of Adam Hall and Julie McPherson in their opening round.
