YONEX Canada Open 2019: HS Prannoy on comeback trail after illness; Parupalli Kashyap looks to build on good season

Calgary: Indian shuttlers, including B Sai Praneeth and HS Prannoy, will look to put their best foot forward when they start their campaign at the YONEX Canada Open BWF Tour Super 100, beginning with the qualifiers, here on Tuesday. While top stars such as P V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth will not be in action, the USD 75,000 tournament will see a number of Indian male shuttlers vying for honours and hoping to get back their rhythm as the second half of the season unfolds. [caption id=“attachment_4391743” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of HS Prannoy. AP[/caption] Praneeth, a 2017 Singapore Open champion, will look to lay his hands on a crown after coming close at the Swiss Open Super 300 event in March this year. He had lost in the finals to Shi Yuqi of China in the summit clash. The second-seeded Indian, who last played at the Australian Open almost a month back, has got a bye in the first round and will face the winner of the match between the USA’s Nicholas Robert Henson Waller and China’s Sun Fei Xiang to begin his campaign. Prannoy too lost a lot of time this year battling gastroesophageal reflux disease which affected his performance. As a result, his ranking has dwindled to world number 26. The 25-year-old Indian, a former top 10 player, also got a bye in the first round and will look to turn things around with a good show here. Former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap too looked in good touch this season, especially at the India Open, where he reached the semifinal. The sixth seed would hope to continue with his good form. Among others, national champion Sourabh Verma will square off against Turkey’s Emre Lale, while former world number 13 Ajay Jayaram meets a qualifier. Young Lakshya Sen, in his first year on the senior circuit, will take on New Zealand’s Abhinav Manota in the opening round.