File photo of HS Prannoy© AFP
Indian shuttlers, including comeback man HS Prannoy, will eye a good show at the China Masters — the season’s last BWF Super 750 event — beginning on Tuesday, in pursuit of valuable ranking points in the race to the Paris Olympics. Prannoy, who lost in the second round at the Japan Open Super 500 after returning to action following a back injury, will once again be the top Indian name in men’s singles in the competition. He will face Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen, who had defeated him in the last meeting in Japan. The world No. 17 Lakshya Sen and world No. 23 Kidambi Srikanth, who are fighting to be inside the top 16 by April 28 next year to qualify for the Olympics, will also be in action.
Following his first-round exit last week after a loss to Japan’s world championships silver medallist Kodai Naroaka, Sen will hope for a better outing when he faces seventh seed Shi Yuqi of China.
With just four quarterfinal finishes in the season, Srikanth has not exactly looked the part and has often been guilty of falling in a pool of error. The former world No.1 skipped the Japan Masters last week and will face fourth seed Thai Kunlavut Vitidsarn, the reigning world champion.
Priyanshu Rajawat, on the other hand, will meet Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in his opener.
The top seeded men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who are riding high on the success of an unprecedented year which saw them bagging gold medal at the Asian Games, will also aim a fruitful outing.
Satwik and Chirag will hope last week’s first-round exit was just a blip as they take on English pair Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in their opener.
In women’s doubles, Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly withdrew while Panda sisters — Rutaparna and Swetaparna — will be in the fray.
Aakarshi Kashyap is the only Indian competing in women’s singles, taking on China’s Zhang Yi Man.
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