Indonesia SSP: PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal lead Indian charge, B Sai Praneeth aims to continue rampaging form

Jakarta: On a roll with successive title wins, shuttler B Sai Praneeth will look to continue his rampaging form when he leads the Indian challenge at the $10,00,000 Indonesia Super Series Premier which begins with the qualifiers on Monday. The 24-year-old Indian clinched the Singapore Super Series in April before lifting the Thailand Grand Prix Gold crown on 4 June. He will now hope for another good week when he opens his campaign against second seeded Korean Son Wan Ho. [caption id=“attachment_3388980” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] B Sai Praneeth won his first ever Superseries title in Singapore. AFP[/caption] Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu will also look to continue her good form while the three-time former champion, Saina Nehwal, will face a tough task as she faces Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in the opening round. Sindhu had clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and India Super Series this season before crashing out of the Malaysia Open in the opening round and making quarterfinal exits at the Singapore and Asian Championship. The 21-year-old, who achieved a career-best World No 2 ranking early in 2017, will face Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong and the Indian will look for a consistent run in the tournament. Saina, on the other hand, has been struggling with her fitness and form and slipped out of the world top-10 last week for the first time in the last seven years. The Indian will need to bring her top game to stay alive in the event. Among others in men’s singles, Singapore Open finalist Kidambi Srikanth meets Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki Vincent. The run-up to the tournament was marred by visa hassles with some of the Indian shuttlers being on the verge of missing the event as their passports were with the Canadian Embassy. HS Prannoy, who was one of the Indian shuttlers whose passport arrived just in the nick of time, will start his campaign against Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will face Chinese Taipei’s Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han in men’s doubles, while Sumeeth will pair up with Ashwini Ponnappa in the mixed doubles event. N Sikki Reddy will feature in the mixed doubles event, taking on a qualifier and will team with Ashwini in the women’s doubles as well.