 "All England Championships: Satwik-Chirag pair begin favourites; Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu also aim for glory")
Satwiksair Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the World No 1 men’s pair, will begin the 2024 All England Championships as favourites when the tournament starts in Birmingham on Tuesday. Satwik-Chirag are coming fresh off their title victory at the French Open Super 750 in Paris and will be expected to produce similar performances in England.
PV Sindhu, meanwhile, will spearhead the women’s challenge as India aim to end a 23-year trophy drought at the All England Championships. Prakash Padukone was the first shuttler from India to clinch the title back in 1980, and Pullela Gopichand followed suit 21 years later, in 2001.
Saina Nehwal and Lakshya Sen finished runners up in 2015 and 2022 respectively but nobody else has gone all the way to win the title since 2001.
The prestigious tournament holds an iconic status in India but over the years, its exclusivity has somewhat dwindled as it is now one of the four Super 1000 event on the international calendar.
Satwik and Chirag have already won a Super 1000 title in Indonesia last year and given their stellar run this season, expectations would be high when the two towering shuttlers take the court this week, following their exploits at Paris on Sunday night.
Satwik and Chirag, the Asian Games champions, have bossed their opponents this season, reaching three finals: Malaysia Super 1000, and India Super 750 before winning at Paris – and will remain India’s biggest hopes of a title finish at the Utilita Arena Birmingham here.
Standing in front of them in the opening round will be the veteran Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, the three-time world champions. They have caused a lot of heartbreaks for the Indians in the past.
The ‘Daddies’ had defeated Satwik and Chirag the last time they faced in the French Open last year and the Indians will be eyeing revenge.
If they cross the opening hurdle, the Indian duo is likely to face the Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik. The Malaysians are formidable foes but Satwik and Chirag have defeated them thrice in the last three meetings.
Sindhu will also face an acid test this week with world no. 1 and top seed Korean An Se Young lined up in the second round is the Indian tames Germany’s Yvonne Li, against whom she has a 2-0 record.
Sindhu has shown that she has recovered well from the left knee injury that left her on the sidelines for four months before her campaign in the French Open last week.
With the legendary Padukone by her side, Sindhu matched Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei before marginally falling short in the quarterfinals in Paris.
The 68-year-old Padukone will also be a constant source of inspiration for Lakshya Sen, who received a big boost in his race for Olympic qualification with a semifinal finish at the French Open last week.
Sen will be up against Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong with a likely clash against fourth seeded Dane Anders Antonsen awaiting him in the second round.
World no. 7 HS Prannoy, who made the semifinal of the India Open in January but bowed out of French Open in the first round last week, will hope to go deep in the draw after opening against Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang.
Kidambi Srikanth, who is racing against time to make the cut for Paris, however, will have to play out of his skin as he faces top seed and world no 1 Viktor Axelsen in the opening round, while the young Priyanshu Rajawat will have to fight it out against Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.
The women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, which has done well in Birmingham having reached back-to-back semifinals in the last two years, will open against the Indonesian combination of Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa too have been in good touch and will be up against Hong Kong’s Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam in the opening round.
The two Indian women’s doubles pairs are fighting for a Paris Olympics spot.
India schedule at All England Championships
Men’s singles first round
Viktor Axelsen vs Kidambi Srikanth
HS Prannoy vs Su Li Yanf
Lakshya Sen vs Ng Tze Yong
Chico Aura vs Priyanshu Rajawat
Women’s singles first round
Yvonne Li vs PV Sindhu
Pai Yu Po vs Aakarshi Kashyap
Men’s doubles first round
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty vs Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan
Women’s doubles first round
Apriyani Rahayu and SF Silva Ramadhanti vs Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand
Tanisha Castro and Ashwini Ponnappa vs Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam
Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi vs Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda
LIVE streaming details
The All England Championship matches will be telecast on Sports18 network (Both SD and HD channels). The tournament can also be streamed LIVE on the BWF’s official YouTube channel.
With PTI inputs
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